Why cook when you can join our annual Thanksgiving Dinner at Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre?

Come and enjoy a Broadway show of “Me and My Girl “-A riotously funny musical comedy about a free spirited cockney lad who inherits an earldom but refuses to give up his girlfriend in order to claim his fortune-

Our Traditional Thanksgiving Day buffet features Turkey, Roast Beef, Chicken, Fish, Home Baked Breads, Salads, and Desserts.

Reserve your seats before they are gone for our annual Thanksgiving Day!!!

The Chefs at the Lazy Susan prepare an array of authentic Pennsylvania Dutch dishes fresh every day, including delicious deserts and fresh breads.  It’s an “All You Care To Eat” buffet that you can pick and choose from as you like, satisfying the most discriminating tastes!

Entrees all prepared from scratch!

Late Matinees on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day

Me and My Girl September 22 - November 28, 2010

ME AND MY GIRL

- A riotously funny musical comedy about a free spirited cockney lad who inherits an earldom but refuses to give his girlfriend in order to claim his fortune.

Box Office Information

Reservations – Call today to make your reservations! (703) 550-7384.  You can make reservations for a single show or order season tickets. Gifts certificates are available. 
Seating is determined by the date of reservation – make your reservations today!

“Tuna’ director speaks

By Maggie Lawrence

Twenty-some years ago, three out of work New York actors were sitting around talking about the small Southern towns where they grew up.

Want to go?
What: “Greater Tuna”
Where: Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre
Call: (703) 550-7384 or visit www.LazySusan.com
Playing through Sept. 19 

Twenty-some years ago, three out of work New York actors were sitting around talking about the small Southern towns where they grew up. They reminisced about the types of people who seem to be the mainstays of small towns, and gradually the comic and theatrical possibilities of this idea took root. The result was the first in the “Tuna” series — “Greater Tuna.” In Tuna, the third smallest town in Texas, two men play nineteen characters in a running day-in-the-life-of format, each with his or her own specific identify and theme.
   I was fortunate enough to see the originals and have seen others since with varying success. As you might suppose, this is not an easy show, although the originals with their refined facility for characterization make it look easy.
   Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre, that intrepid little place with the great buffet down in Woodbridge (they added barbecue to the menu just for this) decided to tackle this piece.

Early on, director Frank Shutts made the wise decision to alternate two casts: Team Tuna consisting of Lyle Smythers and Jeffrey Davis, and Team Texas with Robert Biedermann and Matthew Randall. I saw both teams give their performances. Rather than present them here as a review, I have opted to record an interview with Mr. Shutts about his process:

Star-Exponent: Why did you decide to take on this project? How did that come about?

Frank Shutts:  I heard that the Lazy Susan was looking for a director for “Greater Tuna,” and I sent my resume to Glenn, the owner. He called me, conducted a short phone interview, and the job was mine. I took this job because 1) my summer vacation was early enough that I could do a show and 2) because I have always wanted to work at the Lazy Susan. I mean, it’s an establishment! I can also add here, that I am very glad I did.

SE: How many actors were auditioned for the two teams? What stood out to you that these four were chosen?

FS: A total of eight actors auditions so I could have cast the show 4 times. In the auditions, these actors showed me the ability to play different characters with different vocal and physical attributes as well as an innate comic ability.

SE:When did rehearsals begin and what was your process? (Together? Alternately?)
  Rehearsals began immediately after casting. We had about 1 week of table work which involved both script and character analysis. The show was blocked in three days. Then an additional 8 weeks of rehearsal. The teams rehearsed separately for the most part except for when Robert was out on tour w/ the Wizard of Oz.

FS: Had any of these four actors ever done multiple character shows before?
 To my knowledge, only Matthew had experience playing multiple roles (excluding chorus roles w/ a walk out character) as he played Thurston in another production.

SE:What did you enjoy most about the rehearsal process?
 I enjoyed the challenge of helping the actors find different characterizations for their 10 characters, I always enjoy table work, I enjoyed the challenge of bringing this difficult show to the Susan audience. By that I mean, it’s not the usual Susan fare. There is satire and some nights I think the audience gets it and some nights they don’t. The most rewarding aspects, getting to work w/ actors, designers, and a venture unknown to me. I also enjoyed the challenge of breaking the idea that this is a “vehicle show.”

SE:What was most difficult?

FS: And that was the most difficult. I never saw the original team, I allowed myself to see snippets of the video after I had already blocked the show and we were weeks into rehearsal. Having never see the original team perform live, I had to keep telling myself that this was directed for the camera…and that’s a whole different ball game.

SE: Are there any future projects or plays out there that you’d love to get your hands on?.

FS: Oh, there are always future projects/plays I’d like to get my hands on……A few Tennessee Williams plays (Sweet Bird of Youth and The Glass Menagerie) and a few musicals (Radio Gals)…

Maggie Lawrence is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association. She teaches drama at CCHS.

Wednesday August 18, 2010  Easy to enjoy this helping of ‘Greater Tuna’

 Pair of performers carries numerous characters to hilarity in dinner theater production

 by David Hoffman | Special to the Times 

The Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre will be serving up a heaping helping of “Greater Tuna” for the next six weeks.  Photo by Glenn Gates: Matthew Randall as Arles Struvie and Robert Biedermann as Thurston Willlis in “Greater Tuna.”

There are 20-odd characters in the play, with nearly every one of them portrayed as a small-town eccentric — and they’re all played by only two actors, who vary costumes, accents and hairdos in a constant whirl that leaves the audience wondering who will come out next.

 The production is the first in a series of four comedic plays set in the mythical small town of Tuna, and has been a huge hit since it first opened in Austin, Texas, in 1981. It was co-written by Jaston Williams and Joe Sears, who collaborated with Ed Howard.

 When the play was created, the Ronald Reagan’s presidency was casting early shadows over outposts of liberalism like Austin, home to the state university’s flagship campus and a famously tolerant lifestyle decidedly out of sync with the Christian Right and its political allies in the Republican Party.

“Greater Tuna” is a series of funny vignettes that are strung together with periodic reports from radio station OKKK in a town so right of political and cultural center that it is said by one character — the stoutly determined Bertha Bumiller — that “the Lions Club is too liberal.” Even the book and screen adaptation of “Roots” is proposed for banning in the local library, “because it shows only one side of the slavery issue.”

 In fact, the play was originally meant to satirize the foibles of small-town racism and right-wing cultural provincialism right down to a local KKK chapter and another troupe of self-styled “smut-snatchers,” a local group of activists determined to censor “Huckleberry Finn” and “Romeo and Juliet” right off the local high school bookshelves.

 Bertha Bumiller is perhaps the key figure since she is Hank’s wife and the mother of twins Charlene and Stanley — who is fresh from reform school and who shocks the play’s light-hearted tone with one riveting confession when he gloats about killing a local judge — and their brain-dead younger sister Jody.

Other key characters include Bertha’s aunt Pearl, who is addicted to killing dogs, called “canicidis” in the play, and R.P. Snavely, the town drunk in hot pursuit of UFO sightings who describes one such close encounter as looking like “a giant hovering chalupa.”

Playing Bertha, Pearl and the other characters in the original and successive Tuna productions was co-author Sears, but in the Lazy Susan production, these and other roles are carried by the boisterous Robert Biedermann, an acting ham with a twist of wry. In his next job, he resumes the character of the Wizard for the ninth time in the national tour of “The Wizard of Oz” beginning in October. 

Meanwhile, playing the other set of roles is Matthew Randall, who has played the Biedermann half of the roles in an earlier performance of “Greater Tuna” for Herndon’s Elden Street Players. Randall is an equal in hilarity, morphing into characters such as Didi Snavely, R.P.’s wife and owner of Didi’s Used Weapons, whose slogan is, “If we can’t kill it, it’s immortal!” 

Tickets for the show and the buffet meal at The Lazy Susan are $44.95 and are offered Friday through Sunday on through Sept. 19. For reservations, call 703-550-7384.

August Supplement

Lorton Valley Star

Serving the Lorton Community for ten years

Vol.11 No.8 July 2010

E-mail: Byways@LortonValleyStar.com

Greater Tuna comes to Lazy Susan, greater Lorton

Review by Floyd Harrison, Publisher

If you stop in a byway town and you want to get a sense of that place, you can pick up

the community newspaper or you can tune to the local radio station as you pass through.

You could just take a stay-cation and visit “Greater Tuna” at the Lazy Susan in Lorton

through September 19.

So, this is how we begin to spy on the life of Greater Tuna, through radio station

OKKK-Tuna, even before they “remember to throw the ON-AIR switch”. The first thing

you get about Tuna, Texas is that it’s severely hick. Think of the old TV program Hee

Haw. You kids who don’t remember it can Google Hee Haw.

Even this third smallest town in Texas, as slow as the news seems, harbors extremism

and a microcosm of wickedness. But, the news program sounds like neighbors talking

across the fence and feels like gossip. ‘It does, It does’. Bad grammar and all.

A water closet gives the news team a chance to walk off the set for a costume change and

to come back as a feature guest or a defendant in a vignette of the news. Another element

of the humor besides the hickness, is the very sudden diverse costume changes.

However, as there are only two actors playing all of the parts as well as radio anchors,

you never actually see a victim, animal or otherwise. It’s all just funny. At first you think

this couldn’t happen in Lorton, then you realize it could and that it’s the presentation that

makes it funny. You are transported to imaginary scenes in the news.

This unsophisticated town, however deals with grown-up issues in extreme ways.

There’s the ladies group that is a ‘conservative’ split off of the Lions Club. That is a

subliminal humor. There’s the old woman who poisons dogs just because she hates them.

There’s the radical Reverend Spikes who wants to ban books from the library and edit

the dictionary; You won’t believe the choices and ignorant reasons; That’s a hoot. Call

in your nominations for words to be deleted.

The censorship issue draws a reporter from a magazine they don’t have in the Tuna

library, INTELLECT. Greater Tuna doesn’t get it; That’s the punch line for the whole

spoof. It is, friends. ¿It is? It is – it is. And the Reverend Spikes delivers a radio eulogy

for the Judge that is jam-packed with more cliches than you can shake a stick at but he

didn’t miss a lick. When he’s late for the radio because of a tie in with another news

incident, it really gets rich.

Team Texas was a great team. The diverse rolls prove the actors skills. Come to think

of it, how different are a crotchety old woman and an attention deficit little boy? Oh-well.

Anyone would enjoy Greater Tuna and the relief that comes with a laugh at the world and

feeling better about your self. Then you can go out prepared to make the world a better

place for the “right kind of people”. You know, … the desirables.

Dinner and a play together makes a complete evening and there’s no problem with

timing. You can arrive early and enjoy a drink then you don’t have to rush at all to fi nish

in time for the show. It’s served buffet style so you control your own menu and portions.

It’s not as confining as being in a concert hall and I found that the crowd was sociable.

It’s great with a friend or family and actually a bargain considering tickets elsewhere.

When you arrive at the Lazy Susan and drive up the hill, you notice the Farm

landscaping features and architectural style of the building. Come right in anytime after

6:00, The Theatre is arranged with tables on tiers in front of a wide stage. The waiters

are the stage crew and actors themselves so entertainment starts when you are seated.

Extend your night life at Skinny Fatz on the up hill side of the parking lot.

Now Playing through September 19

Directed by LTA’s Frank Shutts

Opens for Cocktails at 6:pm

Pennsylvania Dutch Buffet at

6:30 and Show at 8:pm

Menu for Greater Tuna includes Texas BBQ

Seating is based on date of reservation.

Reserve early.

Regular Admission includes dinner, show, tea,

coffee, dessert and tax.

Sun, Tues, Wed, Thurs, & Fri. $41.95

Saturday $44.95

For Reservations Call 703-550-7384

Gift Certifi cates and Group Rates available;

ask for Karol

Free Buffet & Show

with Purchase of One at

Regular Price. Must present this

Ad, Not valid with any other offer. Limit

three couples. Expires 8-29-’ 10

COUPON

July 31st.“Arlington Weekly News TV” 

Rich Massabny/Producer/Interviewer/Reviewer/

RICH MASSABNY Television Host and Producer - Reviews and Interviews

Comcast CHANNEL 69 FiOS Channel 38 Broadcast 2010:  

Thurs., 8/5, 6 p.m.; Sat., 8/7, 10:30 a.m.; Mon., 8/9, 8:30 p.m. YouTube.com/arlingtonweeklynews  (beginning 8/6) www.richmassabnyreviews.blogspot.com  LAZY SUSAN DINNER THEATRE – - “Greater Tuna”  

I’ve seen the “Tuna” shows over the years with the originators, Jaston Williams and Joe Sears and I’m happy to report that the “Greater Tuna” show currently playing at the Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre does it justice. Robert Biedermann and Matthew Randall play the two main roles of Thurston Wheelis and Arles Struvie and at least 10 other characters each to the hilt in the fictitious town of Tuna, Texas. The show revolves around these two guys who are radio personalities and other Tuna citizens. Great fun! Fortunately, “Greater Tuna” plays through Sept. 19, so you have plenty of time to enjoy the show once or twice and the Texas barbeque theme at the famous Lazy Susan buffet beforehand. On some nights two other fellows, Lyle Smythers and Jeffrey Davis take on the zany lead roles. Veteran director Frank D. Shutts II is the ringmaster with help from Mary Beth Smith-Toomey. “Don’t Miss This Funny Show!” For reservations, call the Lazy Susan at 703-550-7384 and check the website at www.LazySusan.com. 

5904 N. 4th Rd., Arlington, VA 22203*703-527-2549; fax 703-527-3859 e-mail: richmassabny@aol.com,website: www.richmassabny.com. Rich Massabny is one of the most visible cable television personalities in the Washington, D.C. area. He hosts and produces talk shows and cooking shows with celebrity chefs on Cox, Comcast and Verizon cable stations in Northern Virginia. His shows are seen as often as three times a week, reaching over 1,000,000 homes (including FIOS). He is a regular theatre and restaurant reviewer on Arlington Weekly News TV. His reviews can be seen on YouTube.com/arlingtonweeklynews and on www.richmassabnyreviews.blogspot.com. Rich has interviewed more than 3500 people in the last 24 years covering a wide range of topics, current events and entertainment. His interviews reflect his far-reaching interests and have included former Ambassadors Riad Tabbarah of Lebanon, Boris Biancheri of Italy plus Congressman James Moran, Terence Jones, Pres. and CEO of Wolf Trap, Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy (U.S. Army Ret.), former VA Lt. Gov. John Hager, Norman Scribner, Dir., Choral Arts Society, journalist Helen Thomas and Bob Madigan, Man About Town, WTOP Radio. For a schedule of Rich’s shows, click on TV Host tab.

  _________________________________________________________________________________________

July 2010: Mount Vernon Voice Click to read full article  

Drinks, dinner and a show — all in one place at the Lazy Su­san Dinner Theatre.  

For more than three decades the dinner theater in Lorton near the Fairfax/Prince William County line on Route 1 has been enter­taining crowds with live produc­tions of great American plays such “Camelot,” “They’re Play­ing Our Song,” “The Unsinkle Molly Brown,” “Oliver!,” “The Odd Couple,” “Shenandoah,” “Agatha Christie’s Spider’s Web” and “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown.”  

And now for the first time, Lazy Susan has teamed up with the Little Theatre of Alexandria to put on a performance of “Great­er Tuna,” a comedy set in Tuna, Texas, the third smallest town in the state populated by a cast of eccentric characters includ­ing radio station OKKK hosts Thurston Wheelis, Arles Struvie along with Elmer Watkins, Petey Fisk Rev. Spikes, and the whole Bumiller clan — all played by only two performers.  

Saturday night, the crowd at the Lazy Susan chuckled and guffawed throughout the show performed that night by “Team Tuna,” Lyle Smythers and Jef­frey Davis. (“Team Texas,” Robert Biedermann and Mat­thew Randall, also share perfor­mance dates and the team which is performing on a given night is announced at the start of the show.)  

The spoof on “redneck Amer­ica” where the Lion’s Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies, has become one of the most produced plays on the American stage.  

At the Lazy Susan, it’s best to arrive early. Doors open for seat­ing at 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday evenings, and 5 p.m. on Sundays, the buffet begins at 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 7 p.m. on Saturdays and 6 p.m. on Sundays and the cur­tain goes up at 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays, and 7:30 p.m. on Sun­days. (During selected Sunday matinees, doors open at 1 p.m.).  

The Pennsylvania Dutch buf­fet, which is also featuring Texas BBQ during the run of “Greater Tuna,” features salads, relishes, home baked breads, roast beef, chicken and fish, and desserts, all prepared from scratch. Be sure not to miss the rum buns. Invitations to the buffet are based on the order in which you arrive at the theatre.  

Also, by arriving soon after the doors open, that gives guests the plenty of time to sip the house drink, the appropriately named “Magna Grande” with light rum and banana liquor. (A non-alco­holic version is also available.)  

The dinner theatre, located high on a hill just past the Route 1 South Woodbridge/I-95 split at the intersection of Route 1 and Furnace Road, is fixture in the community, as is the Skinifatz nightclub located nearby and under the same ownership.  

The Lazy Susan Dinner The­atre is one of the few surviving dinner theaters that has opened since the heyday of the “chow-biz” in the early 1970s, notes its website.  

Theatre manager Karol Kalden­bach is also a fixture there serv­ing as manager there for many years after growing up in the Mount Vernon and Franconia areas.  Theatre manager Karol Kaldenbach, a Mount Vernon/Lee native, chats with guests Saturday night before the opening of “Greater Tuna” at the Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre. 

Kaldenbach can been seen evenings greeting guests and chatting with customers before the opening of the performance.  

Adult admission on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thurs­days and Fridays is $41.95, and $44.95 on Saturdays. Tickets for youth ages 11-15 is $35, and $25 for children. The price includes dinner, show, tea, coffee and tax.  

For more information, or to make a reservation, call 703-550-7384, or go to www.lazy­susan.com. For group informa­tion, ask for Karol.   

— Steve Hunt  

Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre Presents

SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN

September 30 – November 29  

Country music superstar Mel Tillis says “I believe [this] is the finest collection of great old time gospel music combined with hilarious comedy that you will find anywhere!” 

SETTING

The play takes place in the Sanctuary of the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Chruch in Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina, located just west of Hickory near the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is a Saturday night in June, 1938. The United States is in the last years of the Great Depressions. Organized religion is at its peak. 

CAST BIOS

(In Alphabetical Order)  

Jeffrey Bryce Davidson (Stanley Sanders) –

This is Jeff’s 37^th appearance on our stage. Favorite roles include Teddy Brewster, Dr. Treves, Sir Evelyn Oakleigh, Rev. Samuel Parris, Abel Frake, and Marc Sharples. Jeff studied his craft with Graham Paul, a Clint Eastwood associate.  

Jan Forbes (Burl Sanders) –

Jan last appeared her as Capt. Andy in Showboat. He performed last fall as Al Lewis in Little Theatre of Alexandria’s production of the Sunshine Boys and also starred in the PBS movie The Doll by Emmy Award winning director Dante James. Lazy Susan regulars will also remember him as Alderman Higgs in Witness for the Prosecution, Sir Henry in the Hollow, Admiral Schrieber in the Sound Of Music, Mr. Hasler in the Pajama Game, and Rodgers in Ten Little Indians, as well as other character roles. In 2004 his set for Host and Guest won best set award out of 40 international participants at the New York Fringe Festival, and you may have seen his work for Synetic Theatre at the Kennedy Center since 2005.  

Cathy Kidwell (Vera Sanders) –

You have seen Cathy at the Lazy Susan as Miss Marple in A Murder is Announced, Mrs. Fezziwig and a Caroler in A Christmas Carol, Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music, Aunt Eller in Oklahoma!, Lady Westholme in Appointment with Death, Detective in Clue: the Musical, and Parthy in Showboat. Other favorite roles include: Mrs. Potts (Disney’s Beauty and the Beast), Domina (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum), Lead Soprano (Side-by-Side-by Sondheim) (ACT Nomination for Best Supporting Actress), General Cartwright (Guys & Dolls), Widow Corney (Oliver) and Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest).  

Katherine Lipovsky (June Sanders) –

Katherine is excited to be in her sixth production at the Lazy Susan, having previously been the female ensemble member in Little Shop of Horrors, Sharpay Evan in High School Musical, Phillipa Haymes in Agatha Christie’s A Murder is Announced, Mrs. Fred/Fan in A Christmas Carol, and Princess # 12/Nightingale of Samarkand in Once Upon A Mattress. She is a graduate of James Madison University and has a BA in History with a minor in Music.  

Kathleen McCormack (Denise Sanders) –

Kathleen was last seen as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. Favorite roles include Liesl (Sound of Music), Nanette (No, No Nanette), Baker’s Wife (into the Woods), and Lady Larkin (Once Upon A Mattress). She was also Assistant Choreographer for MCP’s Evita and A Christmas Carol.  

George Rouse (Pastor Mervin Oglethorpe/Stage Manager) –

Recently George appeared as the Puppeteer for Audrey II in Little Shop of Horror, the Wizard in Once Upon A Mattress, Dick Wilkins & the Young Solicitor in A Christmas Carol, and Rudi Scherz in A Murder is Announced. George has often snuck around in his “tech blacks” for a wide variety of shows including Beehive, Steel Magnolias, Grease!, The Mousetrap, Spider’s Web, Murder on the Nile, Guys & Dolls, and No, No, Nanette…to name a few. He became Stage Manager here in 1997. This year marks George’s 15^th year at the Lazy Susan.  

Jeanne Forbes (Lighting Designer) –

Jeanne has appeared onstage, in the booth, and many other positions here at the Lazy Susan, and is happy to once again design lighting for the Lazy Susan. You may remember her as Parthy in Show Boat, Pauline in No, No Nanette, Ouiser in Steel Magnolias, or Yente in Fiddler on the Roof. Jeanne has been the lighting technician for over 30 shows, and is the produce/director of Young People’s Theatre. Her film/TV credits include Kurt Vonnegut’s Fortitude and the popular TV series M*A*S*H where she appeared as Nurse Able and as Frank Burns’ wife.  

John Edward Niles (Music/Vocal Director) –

John has been Musical Director at the Lazy Susan for many years. He is Artistic Director of the Opera of Northern Virginia. He has conducted with Bel Canto Opera and the Prince George’s Opera. 

 “SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN” is presented through special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. 45 West 45th Street, New York, NY 10010 

‘Little Shop of Horrors’ is a show that grows on you

 Review the full review here 

Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre Little Shop of Horrors

By Laura & Mike Clark • Sep 17th, 2009 • Category: Reviews 

Little Shop of Horrors
Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre
Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre, Woodbridge, VA
Through September 26th
$41.95-$44.95(Adults)/$35(Ages 11-15)/$25/Ages 10 and under)
2:00, with one intermission
Reviewed September 15th, 2009

Little Shop of Horrors is a musical with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menkin. It is the story of a strange plant that finds a home in a florist shop on Skid Row. Its thirst for blood threatens to take over the world. 

The cast of Little Shop gave a good solid performance. They had the songs down and the choreography seemed to come as second nature. The Audrey II Puppet was brought down from New York and designed by Martin P. Robinson. 

Seymour (Ryan Schaffer) had a quirkiness about him that engaged the audience and made you feel his pain and guilt. The love of his life Audrey (Kathleen McCormick) did well with keeping the New York accent throughout the evening. In her song “Somewhere That’s Green” she portrayed a sincerity that really brought out the emotion in the song. She portrayed the roll as a small town girl trying to make it in the big city, but kept getting knocked around (literally) by life. 

The floral shop owner, Mr. Mushnik, was played by Carl Bowman. As Seymour was quirky and awkward, Mr. Mushnik was just plain uptight. Bowman’s mannerisms and facial expressions were classic. He brought an energy to the role of Mushnik through his interactions with both Audrey and Seymour. 

One interesting thing was the volume of the performance. The canned music was soft and although none of the performers ever really belted it out (except for maybe “Suddenly, Seymour”) there were times when the singers were louder than the music and may have thrown the tempo off. 

The Lazy Susan set is wide, but not terribly deep. This set used three areas that either rotated or slid back and forth in place. The area on stage right could be rotated to become a dentist office or part of the alley on Skid Row. The center section was the florist shop and the actors were good about using the door to go out and keeping that fourth wall separate. The cast rotated the set effectively. Special lighting, designed by Jeanne Forbes, for the solos also helped heighten the mood.

Janelle Delany as Chiffon, Dena Kolb as Crystal, and Christina Sanchez as Ronette	Ryan Schaffer as Seymour Krelborn and Carl Bowman as Mr. Mushnik
Ryan Schaffer as Seymour Krelborn and Audrey II, as voiced by Antonio Bullock and puppeteered by George Rouse

Photos by Hans Bachmann for the Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre 

Cast

• Seymour: Ryan Schaffer/Mark Hamburger
• Audrey: Kathleen McCormick/Tara Leigh Moore
• Audrey II (Voice) Antonio Bullock
• Manipulation: George Rouse
• Chiffon: Janelle Delany
• Crystal: Dena Kolb/Richelle (Rikki) Howie
• Ronnette: Christina Sanchez
• Mr.Mushnik: Carl Bowman
• Orin Scrivello/Mr. Martin/M.Luce: Christopher Culosi
• Bernstein/Ensemble: Katherine Lipovsky
• Skip Snip/Ensemble: Tony Turchiano
• Understudies
• Audrey II: Patrick Doneghy
• Chiffon: Tracy Lu
• Ronnette: Katherine Lipovsky
• Mr. Mushnik: Lyle Blake Smythers
• Orin Scrivello: Tony Turchiano
• Bernstein: Tracy Lu

Crew

• Director: Hans Bachmann
• Producers: Harold E. Gates, Glenn D. Gates
• Assistant Director: Jeffrey Davis
• Stage Manager: George Rouse
• Lighting Designer: Jeanne Forbes
• Musical & Vocal Director: John Edward Niles
• Costumer: Hans Bachmann
• Set: Reggie Eusebio, Aaron Richardson, George Rouse, Linda Shaw, Josh Smith
• Tech: Reggie Eusebio, Aaron Forbes, Jeanne Forbes, Jesse Forbes, Danielle McBride

Tagged as: Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre 

This article can be linked to as: http://www.showbizradio.net/goto/4179. 

 Laura & Mike Clark started ShowBizRadio in August 2005 because they love live theater. They each earned a Career Studies Certificate in Theater from Northern Virginia Community College. If you need a stage manager for your production in the Northern Virginia area, contact Mike at MichaelClark.net. 

  

 http://stagesbaltimore.wordpress.com 

THEATRE REVIEWS:  

Little Shop of Horrors by Priscilla Mack
Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre
If you’re looking for a fun dinner theater show close to Baltimore then “Little Shop of Horrors,” at Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre in Northern Virginia suits the bill.
Lazy Susan’s performers deliver on all the laughs and bizarreness of this former movie and Broadway show.
Mr. Mushnik (Carl Bowman) is struggling with his floral shop.
It doesn’t help that Mr. Mushnik’s shop is located on skid row.
Helping Mr. Mushnik at his floral shop is Audrey (Kathleen McCormick) and the nerdy Seymour (Ryan Schaffer).
It looks like Mr. Mushnik’s business will go bankrupt, but Seymour saves the day.
Seymour introduces a beautiful exotic plant to the shop which catches many people’s attention.
Suddenly, Seymour’s exotic plant, the Audrey 2 helps Mr. Mushnik’s shop with new business.
All are fascinated by this Venus Flytrap which grows bigger all the time.
What most don’t know is the Audrey 2 Venus Flytrap gets larger by, eating people (eek, gross).
Suddenly Seymour is famous because more and more people want to see and hear about the growing plant.
Seymour has a real dilemma.
Should he keep his mouth shut about how Audrey’s abusive boyfriend, the crazy, funny Orin (Christopher Culosi) has met his fate in the belly of the now famous Venus Flytrap at Mr. Mushnik’s store?
Seymour will find out that fame and fortune can truly have it’s price.
As mentioned, a fun show for the whole family.
“Little Shop of Horrors” runs at Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre until September 27th.
Then the tongue-in-cheek, Gospel, Country, comedy show “Smoke on the Mountain” opens at Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre from September 30th to November 29th.
For tickets call 703-494-6311 

Christopher Culosi almost steals the show as white-coated dentist by day and leather jacketed hoodlum by night. The routine “Be A Dentist” featuring Orin and the girl trio is a gas. Mr. Culosi also handles two more appearances as Mr. Martin and M. Luce, displaying the full breadth of his comic skills in each. 

The show itself is something of a cartoon, so it passes with a shrug that most of the acting has a cartoonish bent appropriate for a spoof. This is especially true of Mr. Mushnik (Carl Bowman) who ranges from hair-tearing despair over the fall of his business to hair-tearing ecstacy over its sudden success. One visual allusion to Tevya from “Fiddler on the Roof” was nicely done, and his cunning plan to adopt Seymour to get control of Audrey II finds a high moment in the routine “Mushnik & Son.” 

Audrey II appears in her several growth stages, each one more bizarre and threatening than the last. Special kudos to Antonio Bullock for the commanding voice of the potted carnivore. His duet with Seymour in “Git it (Feed Me)” is a delight. 

The set design, not credited in the program, does a satisfactory job of establishing the bounds of the florist shop while separating scenes on the rotating platform. A small quibble: loose curtains and imprecise walls led to audience views of actors walking in the back. 

Timing and energy levels are up where they belong creating a pervasive sense that the cast is having as good a time putting this across as we are at getting it. A final spirited reminder from the company that “The Meek Shall Inherit” is followed by helpful advice for those who may someday be faced with a talking, blood-craving, fast-growing monster in a pot: Do not feed the plant! 

Margaret Lawrence is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association. She teaches drama and English at CCHS.
Want to go?
What: “Little Shop of Horrors”
Where: Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre, Woodbridge, Va.
Call: (703) 550-7384 or (703) 494-6311
Playing through Sept. 27 

Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre: Buy 1 Get 1 Free

 “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” coupon.

Reserve your tickets by calling 703-550-7384 while space is available.

Greater Tuna is the hilariously funny comedy about the third smallest town in Texas where the Lion’s Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies. – This outstanding spoof on redneck America has become one of the most widely produced plays on the American stage!
 

About the show “Greater Tuna”:
The Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre offers the flavor of Texas both in its production and its cuisine when it presents the two-man, twenty-character comedy Greater Tuna this summer.  Instead of featuring its long-standing Pennsylvania-Dutch buffet, the theatre will offer a Texas BBQ to capture the feel–and taste–of this tour-de-farce set in the tiny town of Tuna, Texas.  The show plays Fridays through Sundays from July 16 through September 19.  Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 703-550-7384.

TPC POTOMAC AT AVENEL FARM*10000 Oaklyn Dr, Potomac, MD 20854*Phone (301) 469-3700

From October 4-10 at Avenal Country Club in Potomac, Maryland, the senior golf players will hold the Constellation Energy Championship.  I have been asked to be the captain for the 11th hole and I am looking for volunteer marshals.  The marshals are the ones who get to hold up their hands and say “quiet please.”   If you love the fresh air, want to get away from the crowds, this is a great opportunity.  You also don’t need to know anything about golf. 

The fee to “volunteer” (don’t get me started) is $60 and for that you get a shirt, hat, jacket, tickets for the whole week, preferred parking and free food.  I expect that you would have to work just two days out of that week.

If you are interested in working at this tournament, please go to www.volunteers.ceseniorplayers.com and on the left hand side you’ll see “volunteer registration.”  When they ask for your preference in assignments select “Hole #11.”  Then just pick two others at random.  When they ask about the days you want to work, just select any three.  Don’t worry right now about being locked in to those dates, we’ll work that out soon. 

I need about 15 people. This is on a first come, first served basis.  WHEN YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY REGISTERED, EMAIL ME IMMEDIATELY TO TELL ME.  If you don’t do that, you could get stuck at a different hole.  Meanwhile, if you have any questions email me or call me at 703-360-3822.

Thanks!!!!     

Ron Fitzsimmons

ronjfitz@cox.net

Bob Madigan from WTOP reviews “Greater Tuna”

(In Alphabetical Order)

Robert John Biedermann

(Thurston Wheelis Team Texas)- In his 32^nd year of performing, with over 150 productions under his belt, including 8 National Tours and a Helen Hayes Nomination, Robert is finally doing Greater Tuna, having seen it in it’s first year Off-Broadway in 1982. During this run he turns 60 and thinks it is the best way to jump into his 7^th decade…it is, it is! Here’s to you Kurt!!!    

Jeffrey Davis 

(Arles Stuvie- Team Tuna) – As an actor, Jeff last appeared on the Lazy Susan stage as the title character in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.  You might also remember him as dull dog Edward Angketell in the Hollow, As time study man Vernon Hines in Pajama Game, or as Public Enemy #13 Moonface Martin in Anything Goes. For the latter, Jeff was recognized as Best Actor in the region by a local theatre critic and some of his other stage work has been honored with a WATCH award, as well as “The Best of the Fringe” at the DC Fringe Festival. Jeff also made his Lazy Susan directing debut two winters ago with Agatha Christie’s A Murder is Announced. No strange to the Director’s chair, his credits include Oliver, Gypsy, Camelot and Music Man.    

Matthew Randall 

Matthew Randall- Arles struvie (and others**)

(Arles Struvie-Team Texas)- Matthew has visited Greater Tuna before, portraying the other half of the roles for Elden Street Players (ESP). Other roles include john and James Jeckyll, Love! Compassion! [ESP & Dominion Stage (DS), Sterling], Jeffrey (DS); Flanders, Six Degrees of Separation [Taking Flight (TF)]; Tartuffe, Tartuffe [Vpstart Crow (VC)]; Scrooge, A Christmas Carol (VC0; Norman, The Dresser [Port City Players (PCP)]; Selsden, Noises Off (TG); Dale Harding, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (TF); Capt. Keller, The Miracle Worker [The Arlington Players (TAP)]; Geoffrey, The Lion In Winter (TF); Dr. Sloper, The Heiress [Little Theatre of Alexandria (LTA)]. Directing: Reefer Madness: The Musical (DS); Glengarry Glenn Ross (TF); Fifth of July (TF); The House of Blue Leaves (DS); Bat Boy: The Musical (TF, with Natalie V. Safley); Harvey (TF) and La Bête (TF).   

Lyle Blake Smythers

(Thurston Wheelis-Team Tuna)- performed at the 1992 and 1995 Helen Hayes Awards ceremonies at the National Theatre, where he was also seen in Jesus Christ Superstar. He has appeared at Signature Theatre (Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods), Studio Theatre (Medea), American Century Theatre (The Pirate), and the West End Dinner Theatre (Ten Little Indians). Credits here at the Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre include such shows as 1776, Big River, and Arsenic and Old Lace and most recently A Christmas Carol (Scrooge), Agatha Christie’s Spider’s Web (Sir Rowland), and Shenandoah (Reverend Byrd). Favorite roles include his three Henrys: Higgins in My Fair Lady, the King in the Lion in Winter, and the Old Actor in The Fantasticks.   

George Rouse

(Stage Manager)- Recently George appeared as Sgt. Johnson in Shenandoah, Dick Wilkins in A Christmas Carol, Rev. Oglethorpe in Smoke on the Mountain, the Puppeteer for Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors, the Wizard in Once Upon A Mattress, and Rudi Scherz in A Murder is Announced. George has often snuck around in his “tech Blacks” for a wide variety of shows including Beehive, Steel Magnolias, Grease!, The Mousetrap, Spider’s Web, Murder on the Nile, Guys & Dolls, and No, No, Nanette…to name a few. He became Stage Manager here in 1997. This year marks George’s 16^th year at the Lazy Susan.    

Jeanne Forbes

(Lighting Designer)- Jeanne has appeared onstage, in the booth, and many other positions here at the Lazy Susan, and is happy to once again design lighting for the theatre. You may remember her as Parthy in Show Boat, Pauline in No, No Nanette, Ouiser in Steel Magnolias, or Yente in Fiddler on the Roof. Jeanne has been the lighting technician for over 30 shows.  Her film/TV credits include Kurt Vonnegut’s Fortitude and the popular TV series M*A*S*H where she appeared as Nurse Able and as Frank Burns’ wife.   

 Mary Beth Smith-Toomey

(Assistant to the Director/Wardrobe Chief)- Mary Beth is happy to be back at the Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre. Mary Beth and Frank have worked together as a Producer/Director team at the Little Theatre of Alexandria (LTA) on more than 10 productions including Gross Indecency: the Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, Cabaret (a Washington Area Community Theatre Honors (WATCH) Outstanding Musical production award), Das Barbecu, Shenandoah and I Hate Hamlet to name a fess. When not producing, Mary Beth Stage Manages or can be found as the Wardrobe Mistress for complicated wardrobe shows such as Auntie Mame, The Secret Garden and Mack and Mabel. She was the Co-Stage Manager for LTA’s production of Greater Tuna last season. 

 SCENES

ACT I    

Morning News, Radio Station OKKK    

Breakfast    

The Interview    

Pet-of-the-Week    

Leonard on the Line    

The Bitter Pill    

ACT II    

The Funeral Parlor    

The Midday Report    

The Smut Snatchers of the New Order    

The Interrogation    

Evening Prayers    

Sign Off    

CAST OF CHARACTERS

(Team will be announced each evening)    

Team Tuna:    

Thurston Wheelis (and others*)…Lyle Smythers    

Arles Stuvie (and others**)…Jeffrey Davis    

Team Texas:    

Thurston Wheelis (and others*)…Robert Biedermann    

Arles struvie (and others**)…Matthew Randall    

Production Staff:  

Scenic Painter…Myke Taister    

Set Painting/Set Dressing…Karol Kaldenbach, Linda Shaw    

Technical Staff:…Jeanne Forbes, Jesse Forbes

Greater Tuna

Greater Tuna

"Greater Tuna"

Click Here For Additional Pictures:

Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre Pictures of Greater Tuna and other past shows

Contact:  Karol Kaldenbach                                                  

Tel. 703-550-7384

Email: lsdt@ix.netcom.com 

IT’S “GREATER TUNA” ON THE MENU AT LAZY SUSAN

Local Dinner Theatre Changes Traditional Bill of Fare to Compliment Its Show 

The Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre offers the flavor of Texas both in its production and its cuisine when it presents the two-man, twenty-character comedy Greater Tuna this summer.  Instead of featuring its long-standing Pennsylvania-Dutch buffet, the theatre will offer a Texas BBQ to capture the feel–and taste–of this tour-de-farce set in the tiny town of Tuna, Texas.  The show plays Fridays through Sundays from July 16 through September 19.  Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 703-550-7384.

Greater Tuna is the hilarious comedy about the third smallest town in Texas where the Lion’s Club is too liberal, and Patsy Cline is immortal.  The eccentric characters that make up this town are played by only two performers—making this send up of rural life in America even more delightful as they play all the inhabitants of Tuna:  men, women, children, and animals!

Written by Jaston Williams; Joe Sears; and Ed Howard, Greater Tuna is the most frequently produced play in the United States and was performed by Williams and Sears (the original cast) for President George W. Bush in two command performances at the White House.

This production is directed by local award-winning director Frank D. Shutts II and is performed by two casts who alternate weekends:  Lyle Smythers and Jeff Davis are Team Tuna and Robert Biedermann and Matthew Randall are Team Texas.

The Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre is one of the few surviving dinner theaters that opened its doors in the heyday of “chow-biz” in the early 1970s.  Situated atop a hill above the Occoquan River at the intersection of Richmond Highway and Furnace Road in Woodbridge, Virginia, the theatre is a great a choice for couples and groups of all sizes where both food and entertainment can be had for the cost of a ticket alone at most theaters. 

If you would like to schedule a review of the show or an interview with the theater management or artistic staff, please call Karol Kaldenbach at 703-550-7384 or email Karol at lsdt@ix.netcom.com.

July16 – September 19

                         GREATER TUNA 

- The hilariously funny comedy about the third smallest town in Texas  where the Lion’s Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies. – This outstanding spoof on redneck America has become one of the most widely produced plays on the American stage!