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Grin and carrot
"Carrot and Stick" is a fun-filled romantic comedy that feels like a children's story told for adults.
By JOSEPH LANGHAM
Offoffoff.com
Using a combination of carnival sideshow, clowning, vaudeville and general
kookiness Chris Alonzo's Carrot and Stick makes for one very light, fun and
overall entertaining evening. The audience is greeted by a barker with a
hat and cane shouting and berating the audience in that most typical of
barker ways, "Step right up, folks. Find your seats. The show is about to
begin. You sir, take your seat now." A lovely lady accompanies him onstage
with a cardboard carrot dangling on a string from a stick. Then we meet our
hero, Conrad, a man with a mission, a man who just couldn't take his seat
and stay there. He just had to take the carrot, didn't he?
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| CARROT AND STICK |
Company: Suburban Vampire.
Written by: Chris Alonzo.
Directed by: Joel Jeske.
Cast: Eric Alean Scott, Alexis Toone, Chris Alonzo, Juliet Schaefer-Jeske, Bina Chauhan, Jeremiah!.
Related links:
Official site
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| SCHEDULE |
Kraine Theater
85 East 4th St. near 2nd Ave.
Aug. 8-24, 2003
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What follows is a journey that can be summed up quite simply, but will take
many sentences. It is a journey across town to see his girl. He must have
wine, a rose and some whiskey by the time he arrives. Sounds like a fun
date! So, off we go meeting all kinds of madcap, loony characters on the
way who all, somewhat unwittingly, help him to obtain the items desperately
needed for the date. We meet a burglar who convinces him to assist
burgling. The burglar then falls in love with his victim. Conrad then
falls strangely and wonderfully into the street where he is struck by a
cardboard Mercedes driven by the maddest most neurotic woman ever created.
After this he somehow meets a dead comedian who can't stop telling really
bad jokes. And, finally, after journeying the journey of the damned, he
obtains his items and goes to meet his girlfriend after she gets off of
work. Whew. What a day.
The show feels like a children's story told for adults. It is truly quite
simple in its complexities, and it is a blast. Most of the acting is
absolutely top-notch. Jeremiah!'s portrayal of Eddie the dead comedian is
spot-on and makes us laugh every time he does the ol' "DO YOU KNOW WHAT I'M
SAYIN', PEOPLE?". Kitzler, the drunken former one-hit-wonder bandleader, is
played by Juliet Schaefer-Jeske with such expert souse-iness, that she makes
Karen from "Will & Grace" look absolutely sober. Top honors for the evening
go to Bina Chauhan. She pulls off a character so maladjusted and manic with
such sudden mood swings, that the belly laughs overcome the audience one
after the other.
Joel Jeske's direction is very nice and very tight. Seamless scene changes,
fun cardboard props and excellent use of unengaged cast members as
stagehands makes for an effortless evening for the audience. The writing
was very fun and quirky in and of itself, with only one small complaint.
The realistic ending was a real downer. It was not a bad ending, just a
bummer. After falling so in love with the bizarre, cartoony, clownish world
of "Carrot and Stick," the stark realism of the ending really brought us back
to Earth much too rapidly. They even got rid of the cardboard props. Why?
Despite the ending, this is a show not to miss. It is light and airy, goofy
and silly, and keeps you thoroughly entertained for the entire run time.
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AUGUST 19, 2003
OFFOFFOFF.COM • THE GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE NEW YORK
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