‘Wonder’ equally funny, tiring

Las Vegas Little Theatre's "Wonder of the World" has many moments of hilarity, but it makes the same basic mistake that felled "Is He Dead?," the group's most recent production: It starts at too high a pitch.

When we first meet actress Kate Lowenhar-Fisher as the young, unhappy wife Cass, we're curious why all her movements are so exaggerated. Her flappy walk, her over-toothed smile, her sing-song voice don't express character. She's packing a bag to leave her husband, but she's not really packing a bag. She keeps folding the same clothes, and the repetitions don't seem a part of the play. We soon realize she's gone all cute on us because she thinks this is the way to be funny. A simple thing like not realistically packing that suitcase betrays the actress' lack of focus.

Director Walter Niejadlik's forced direction of the first third or so of David Lindsay-Abaire's script turns too much into silliness. But, surprisingly, there are several actors who conquer the broad comedy while still creating genuine characters with needs. By the play's end, the laugh bone is satisfied.

Cass' search for happiness has her going across the country to Niagara Falls, where she meets two elderly honeymooners (the effortlessly loony Gail K. Romero and Rob Kastil) who are not whom they seem to be, a suicidal alcoholic (the uproarious and poignant Valerie Carpenter-Bernstein), and a lonely ship captain (the smooth and no-nonsense Stephen McMillan) who, for a brief moment, appears to be the answer to all of Cass' problems.

In a series of cameos, Sue McNulty brings to life a variety of off-beat roles, including a helicopter pilot with a fear of heights, and a clown-costumed social worker out on parole. McNulty is blessed with perfect comic timing and a domineering presence.

It's a sweet play, rich in human portraits that are likable in a quasi-sick way.

It's just too bad Niejadlik doesn't allow the story to naturally unfold. As funny as it is, it's equally tiring, because the tone is set at one level. It might have helped if the director had never told his leading lady that she was starring in a comedy.

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.