Word: denuar
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Dates: during 1988-1988
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...strange bit justifies-to the extent that a Pudding plot requires-Lyfe's complicity in an elaborate hoax masterminded by billionaire "horseshoe magnate" Richard Denuar (Jason Tomarken). Uncertain of his family's affection in his declining years, Denuar hits upon a clever scheme to test the love of his four daughters and sixth wife: He will feign illness and then stage his own funeral to learn his family's true feelings. Only those who love him for himself will earn a share of his fortune...
...pace picks up halfway through the first act, when Denuar arrives at Saint M's and blackmails Dr. Lyfe into helping with the subterfuge. But a civic-minded faction of the hospital's staff, outraged over the chief of staff's Medicaid scam, learns of Denuar's plan. Led by the hospital's German-accented head nurse, the authoritarian Barb Dwyer (Jon Blackstone), the insurgents resolve to bring down Dr. Lyfe while winning the fortune for themselves. They will share their information with one of the billionaire's daughters in exchange for a share of her inheritance...
...evening's smoothest duets, brash young intern Greg Arius, played by the show's best voice, Adam Wolman, wins over the billionaire's man-hating daughter, Miss Anne Thrope (Todd Fletcher). If Miss Anne cries crocodile tears while her sisters and stepmothers celebrate Denuar's death, she will gain his confidence--and eventually the lion's share of his estate. Secretly, Nurse Dwyer plans to bring about the horseshoe mogul's death with arsenic from Saint...
When the personable director of the Shady Hawkins Funeral Home, Barry-Joe Luvdwuns (Andrew Gardner), asks if anyone would like a beer-or maybe a "stiff" drink-he sets up a word-play that mentions the "grave" situation, points out that whether Denuar will be displayed in an open casket "remains to be seen," and argues for cremation as an eternal-maintenance option "with no bones about...
This year's no exception. Blackstone's Barb Dwyer, with Wicked-Wanda breasts and sinister snarl, is a formidable presence. Jason Tomarken, as Denuar, knows he's playing a stock character and plays with enthusiasn. But Michael Starr, as the billionaire's sixth wife, Libby Doe, turns in a-dare I say sensual?-rendition that few performers could manage. Although my only qualification to judge the performers is a stint covering the Theater of the Absurd that is Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Dianne Ferratwinkie (Maurice "Mo" Rocca) is the clear stand-out among Denuar's daughters. Rocca...
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