FIVE WOMEN WEARING THE SAME DRESS (10 March to 3 April)
Burbage Theatre Company, Wendy Overly Studio Theatre, 59 Blackstone Avenue, Pawtucket, RI
1(401)484-0355 or www.burbagetheatre.org
Reviewed by Tony Annicone
Burbage Theatre Company’s opening live show of 2022 is the Rhode Island premiere of “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress” written by Alan Ball in 1993. Ball as a screenwriter wrote American Beauty, True Blood and Six Feet Under. In this hilarious comedy, the audience finds five very different bridesmaids trapped together in a room, all trying to avoid joining in the wedding reception because the only thing they have in common, is not wanting to be there at all. Each one of the women has a special relationship with the bride, Tracy. The show is set in Knoxville, TN at a wealthy family’s home. It has a lot of humorous lines and situations but also has heart with a serious part of the second act that hits home for the audience. Director Allison Crews casts these six roles splendidly, making each of her actresses into five unique and well-defined characters. Her expert direction wins the whole cast a standing ovation at the close of the show.
The gorgeous and opulent set is by Andrew Iacovelli with costume design by Maxine Wheelock, with peach fitted outfits for the bridesmaids. Allison brings out the best in her cast and has them mine the layers of each of their characters. She gives each of them their moment to shine in this show. The women discuss many topics including sex, relationships, religious views or lack thereof, status, wealth and what society in the 1990’s expected from them.
Steph Rodger plays Meredith, the rebellious, younger sister of the bride. Meredith hates her shoes and outfit, arguing constantly with her unseen mother and spills the beans that the wedding dress cost six thousand dollars. The character hides a secret from her past which she reveals to the girls in the second act. Steph handles this multifaceted character beautifully. Her funniest scene is when she lights up a joint to calm the girls down.
Pretty brunette, Mary Mullane plays Frances, the religious cousin who can’t drink, swear or take drugs, “Because I am a Christian.” She captures the naive behavior of the girl who eventually grows a backbone as the show progresses. Frances sets her sights on a bartender who wants to take her to a bar but she persuades him to take her to MacDonalds. Frances grows up a bit during the show but is determined to hold onto her morals.
Gorgeous statuesque, blonde, Gabrielle McCauley plays Trish, a jaded beauty who tells her friends that she’s slept with a hundred men. She’s a serial dater who has given up on love but one of the groomsmen tries to change her mind. Gabrielle has many hilarious one liners including “you can tell the sexual prowess of a man not by his feet but by the size of his wing tipped shoes.” Tracy is described as a white Republican bitch who has hurt each girl, making them yearn to escape the party as soon as possible. Gabrielle has a serious scene about her Lifeguard boyfriend of the past who loved to have sex constantly and was great in bed. Except one time she found him in bed with the telephone repairman. Sadly, he passed away with AIDS and has made her leery of making a full time commitment to a relationship since then.
The object of desire at the wedding is the unseen, Tommy Valentine, who has dated or slept with almost every one of the girls. Daria Montaquila is a hoot as the constantly drinking, Georgeanne. She was Tracy’s best friend from high school and college whose marriage is falling apart. She had a fling with Tommy who impregnated her in high school, but after hearing some scuttlebutt wants to rip him apart. Amie Lytle is also comical as Mindy, the blunt goodhearted lesbian sister of the groom. She constantly eats snacks at the wedding. Mindy majored in psychology but is in real estate. She wants to help Meredith with a problem but is browbeaten by her in a stunning scene.
Rounding out the cast is Andrew Medeiros as Tripp, an usher at the wedding and cousin of Mindy and the groom. He has been flirting with Trish all night long and finally works up the courage to enter the lair of the bridesmaids. Tripp removes his wingtip shoes on entering the room. The audience wonders if his shoes are big enough to capture Trish’s heart at last? Trinity actress Becky Gibel was the dialect coach for the Southern accents of the cast members. So for a light hearted fun filled show that also contains a deeper, serious side, too, be sure to catch “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress.” This is the Rhode Island premiere of this show in the Wendy Overly Studio Theatre. Brava on a job very well done and thank goodness for the return of live theatre at last at Burbage Theatre Company.
