‘Room #776’ not terrible, just lame

There's some humor to be had in Rita Rudner and Martin Bergman's original play "Room #776", but it's the kind of humor that feels embalmed in the '70s.

The script wants you to laugh at things like hotel operators constantly putting callers on hold, room service being slow and maids mistakenly assuming (and commenting on) the relationship between occupants.

You get the impression that the only thing that could make this trifle work would be two lovable stars in the lead roles -- performers who have built up such goodwill over the years that they could milk laughs just by their presence.

The premise gets things off to a bad start. Two strangers, Tom (Scott Ast) and Wendy (Nancy Denton), are mistakenly booked into the same room. A hotel V.P. (the authoritative Rob Kastil) claims there's nothing to be done, except for one of them to leave.

The authors take the dramatic device of characters "meeting cute" to obscene heights. Everything seems planted to force yuks. Would this man really undress in front of this woman so that he could take a shower? No, but undressing is funny, so the authors have him do it. Would the maid (Lisa Illia) really make very personal comments to the strangers? No, but her doing so makes her kooky, and kooky gets laughs.

The lack of depth makes this less of a play than a comedy sketch, and that would be fine if it were loaded with gut-busting jokes, and if it didn't take itself so seriously. The script really ends when the pair are about to make love, and they refuse the second room that is suddenly available.

Instead, the story dredges on to show how this new relationship sours (lots of nagging in this show), and how the woman learns an important lesson in love and life.

The authors want it both ways: a light romp with a stand-up feel, and a serious study of an affair. They don't have the guffaws for the romp, or the psychological depth for the study.

Director Bergman doesn't provide the foundation for a reality base. Denton, though, does a marvelous job in breathing life into a character who is straightjacketed by time-worn shtick. She gets us much more interested in her dilemma than the role deserves. Ast is often likable (no small feat) but tends to be vocally monotonous. Todd Simmonds is hilarious as a steely-faced waiter

The real star of the show is designer Ron Lindblom, who creates a multiple-location set that is elegant, romantic and just slightly overstated, which puts us in the perfect mood for comedy.

This isn't a terrible play, just a lame one -- like something seen and slightly smiled at a hundred times before.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at DelValle@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.