By Anne Ritchie
What's a 50-year-old guy doing with the perfect woman in a theatrical success? Is it romance? Is it love? Is it really perfection?
For Blackhorse Village Players, it's hilarious, resounding entertainment. The theatre was packed, as was the laughter and applause, when Larry Hines, Craig Butler and Christine Murray matched talents and tripled the enjoyment of Norm Foster's The Love List.
It is Leon (Craig Butler) who enlists the aid of a gypsy matchmaker to find the perfect match for his buddy Bill (Larry Hines). The two friends unwittingly and unsuspectingly put their heads together, with disastrous results. They create a "love list" of good womanly qualities, only to find their ideas differ.
For when Leon, a married man on the eve of rejection, encourages Bill, a statistician who hasn't got the right number on marital success, there's bound to be trouble of some sort or other. As the befuddled, rejected and confused statistician, Hines knows exactly how to act when caught in trouble. He can garner laughter by raising an eyebrow, gripping a chair or grasping for an explanation. When he panics, the audience breaks into laughter. When desire turns to dread, we laugh even harder. Hines make us laugh at what we think we want, and laugh at the consequences of our actions.
Bill only wants windblown hair and an unpredictable nature; what he gets is a hair-raising experience from the wildly vivacious Justine. Where Justine comes from, and where she goes, nobody knows. But Christine Murray will sweep the audience away with an amazing performance. The plot unfolds and momentum builds as Justine appears and disappears in a rainbow of colorful qualities; flashing a sweetheart smile, tossing off rapid-fire ambition, grabbing desperately for security or correcting spelling errors fanatically, leaving nothing but chaos, and the audience's riotous laughter, in her wake.
Murray transforms a man's dream to nightmare and leaves us wildly entertained. Leon unwittingly stumbles into the spiralling romance and no wonder. In the midst of unravelling his own marriage, Leon has helped Bill describe the perfect match. It's an unpredictable situation where each scene pulls the carpet out from under the budding romance found in earlier scenes.
Butler, with a talent reflecting wit and charm, appears to have each situation in hand. He's smooth, steady, knowledgeable about women, until an extremely well-timed hilarious moment when he's caught in the undertow of emotion created by Justine.
Director Cheryl Phillips, with Producer Margaret Phillips, backs the cast with their own multi-talented experience that's been found in every aspect of Blackhorse theatre, and the audience reaps the benefits.
Along with Stage Manager Sally Drummond and Sheilagh Crandall, we are provided with a hilarious evening of fine entertainment. See for yourself by calling Blackhorse Village Players at (905) 880-5002 for ticket information.
The Love List plays until Jan. 31.
