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Lake Country Players score an ace with 'Fox on the Fairway'

By JULIE McHALE - TimeOut Theater Critic

February 14, 2013

 

HARTLAND - Golf is a way of life for many folks, so this gentle satire on some of the stereotypes of this sport - the crazy outfits, the cutthroat competition, the awesome reverence often awarded a tournament, the shenanigans at the 19th hole - these are some of the characteristics Ken Ludwig addresses in his campy farce, “The Fox on the Fairway,” presently producing merriment at Lake Country Playhouse in Hartland.

Ludwig is a prolific writer and this is his latest of many popular comedies, which include “Lend Me a Tenor,” “I Hate Hamlet,” Moon over Buffalo” and “Leading Ladies.” He also wrote the book for the musical  “Crazy for You.” He’s a very talented playwright with many awards that attest to it.

“The Fox on the Fairway” takes place in the tap room at the Quail Valley Country Club, where an annual tournament with the Crouching Squirrels is about to take place. Quail Valley has lost in the last four challenges, and if they lose again, Henry Bingham will be out of his job as manager, so he is elated to have secured a prestigious golfer only to discover at the last minute that his great find has switched his talents to the Crouching Squirrels team.  Before learning the sad fact, Bingham has made a hefty bet with Dickie Bell, his gloating competitor. It’s a bet that includes Bingham’s wife’s antique store if he loses. Without a star on his team, he is understandably in a panic.

A young couple works for Bingham - a bimbo waitress called Louise Heindbedder and her boyfriend, Justin Hicks, who ends up being a really proficient golfer and fills in for the traitor who jumped ship. 

Both Louise and Justin’s easily rattled personalities and the antics their volatility inspires provide much of the humor in this play. Betsy Bromley and Dustin Nolan rise to the challenge. Both are excellent.

Another character who is quite intriguing is Pamela Peabody, a sexy lady who specializes in overindulgence in marriage, alcohol and flirting with Bingham, who is married to Muriel, the brusque, shrewish antique dealer, well rendered by Becca Richards.

Sharon Jahneke aces her vampish role. Her caustic sense of humor balances with the ditziness of the more farcical comedy which abounds here. Jahneke has a way of completely inhabiting a role. She is fun to watch.

Vern Theime and his crew have managed somehow to create a fairly complex set that accommodates inside and outside views of the country club and provides the many doors required for a lot of chases in typical farce mode, quite an accomplishment with the small space he has to work with.

The costumes chosen and created by director Becky Shilling and her cast are wild and keep with the tone of the comedy. There’s nothing subtle here. 

Jeff Davis’ fashion statements as Bell and Jahneke’s outfits as Peabody definitely take the prize for outrageous.

Both James Baker (Bingham) and Jeff Davis (Bell) could crank it up a notch in their roles to keep up with the other four exaggerated caricatures, but overall the cast pulled it off with energy and good timing.

Shilling is a talented director, which she again proved in this production that will provide you with some laughs in the midst of a rather challenging winter.

“The Fox on the Fairway” runs for two more weekends through Feb. 24 at the Lake Country Playhouse, 221 E. Capitol Drive, Hartland. For show times and tickets, call 262-367-4697 or visit www.lakecountryplayhouse.net.