Love, Lies and Double Ds
Station Dinner Theatre hits it out of the park with Canterbury Feast Casanova
By Rob Kocur
If you have yet to experience a Canterbury Feast, you must immediately put it at the top of your bucket list. For you five or six people who haven’t, there’s no better place to begin than the Station Dinner Theatre’s hysterical musical comedy, Casanova, written and directed by the wonderfully talented David Durst.
The show begins with a host of knaves and wenches singing The Lusty Time of Day and The Drinking Song. The audience is then served their salad, a huge roll and “stone soup” by their own personal knave or wench who never once breaks character and entertains throughout. Ah, but it’s important to point out that just like in medieval times, diners are not allowed to use utensils. It was perfect for me, as I never use them anyway.
The story is hilariously ridiculous, reminding one of many a British comedy, particularly Fawlty Towers. The tale revolves around a group of shop owners who have yet to be paid by a deadbeat Casanova. We then meet Lady FaDa and her forty-five-year-old virgin son, Franco FaDa. His mother is convinced that his fiancé is not good enough for him and will cheat on him by the first man to seduce her. She agrees to pay 10,000 ducats if proven wrong.
Meanwhile, a young tailor named GQ, often pronounced Zhee Coo, is convinced by the shop owners to disguise himself as a young version of Casanova, and run off to Dubla Dee in France to retrieve the fiance’s petticoat and deliver the 10,000 ducats to the creditors. Want to know more? Then go to the show!
While dining, audience members are strongly encouraged to raise their glasses and toast to all of their friends. The interactive nature of the show strengthens it considerably and the theatre itself has a cozy “giant living room” feel to it.
Casanova is rather long, stretching to two and a half hours, but this is standard for musicals, and since you’ll be laughing ninety per cent of the time, you’ll scarcely know where the time went. The dialogue, which cleverly includes modern day concepts such as Obamacare and twerking, is incredibly funny, and is strewn with all manner of breast innuendos. This is appropriate of course, seeing as the main course is a rather large, stuffed chicken breast. The songs are the biggest hit, however, and include A Good Spanky, Blah, Blah, Blah, and a sidesplitting rendition of Sonny and Cher’s I Got You, Babe. Not one cast member strikes a sour note.
Though you won’t find a weak link in this chain, a few of the actors must be acknowledged in particular, including Rodger Dobry who plays GQ the Tailor, David Durst who plays the very funny Cupid and the Butcher, David Soule as Franco FaDa, and Pam Durst as the Baker and Matilda. The rest of the cast includes P. Barry McAndrew as the original Casanova, Jennifer Bussierre as Lady FaDa, Carrie Smith as Helen, and Maria Nasca as Cheri/Servant. Special kudos to Nasca for her brilliant choreography, and Smith for her wonderful tickling of the ivories.
There were a couple of technical glitches, barely worth mentioning. In the very beginning of the show, there was some noticeable feedback, and on one occasion, a singer was partially drowned out by the background music.
So, if you’re depressed about the government shutdown, the impending winter, or both, check out Canterbury Feast Casanova. A guaranteed great time for all knaves and wenches!
For more information, call the Station Dinner Theatre & Tavern box office at 814-864-2022 or online at www.canterburyfeast.com.
*** “A Canterbury Feast” is officially SOLD OUT on OCT 26 and NOV 9th !!!**** Tickets are going fast!! Call & get yours NOW!!!
