Word: murrays
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...turn in commendable performances as the middle-aged 12-year old who combines an earnest wisdom with a gleeful sense of comedy. Scales begins unevenly marring his performance with unclear diction, rushed lines, and a soft tone, but once he gains his stride he does a good job as Murray's sidekick. He particularly excels in the climatic scene when Murray must decide whether to capitulate to society and return to work. Scales protests Murray's decision with devastating honesty and childlike earnestness...
Ames as Sandy perfects a somewhat prim and precise nasal tone as the fumbling but concerned social worker. She is especially effective when embarassed or clumsy, although occasionally her wide-eyed tone is a bit unconvincing. A marvelous scene ensues after Sandy spends the night at Murray's apartment. She dresses nervously behind a partition, and exchanges banalities about coffee slogans to cover her insecurity about the relationship. Ames also stands out in the scene where her fellow caseworker stalks out, as she futilely tries to pick up the folders which keep dropping out of her hands. The director...
...Brien shines as the prissy, preppie caseworker who finds Murray incomprehensible. He constantly raises his eyebrows, squirms, pedantically refers to Nick as "the child" and misses the humor in every one of Murray's gibes. In one very funny scene, O'Brien feigns horror at Nick's doll whose well-endowed breasts light up, but with prurient delight, he sneaks a peak...
Harry Dorfman as Arnold Burns and Kipp Rogers as Chuckles the Chipmunk, Murray's boss, also measure up to the rest of the cast. Dorfman competently fills the role of Murray's serious brother who compromised long ago and endures Murray's scorn with dignity. Rogers is fittingly unbearable as the pitifully unfunny Chuckles...
...throughout the show in the establishment of the fast pace and quick pick-up of cues essential to good comedy. The blocking is generally excellent, and the comic scenes are very well-conceived. One of the rare problems is a somewhat distorted sound system--in a critical scene when Murray listens to his boss over an intercom systvm, the words are marred by static...