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Saturday, September 5, 2009

Opera Glasses: A comedic Review of Shear Madness

By Jeff Bridges

If you are reading this, you are probably planning on seeing Shear Madness which is a play written by Paul Portner. In this review, I would like to prepare you for the comedic experience of a lifetime! To get you started, let us just say that the title of the play is a drastic understatement. This is truly a performance requiring opera glasses.

As we begin the performance we find ourselves in unisex hair salon. We see that the stereotypical gossip is happening in this salon, just as it happens in real life. As the clients sit to get their hair cut, their deepest secrets seem to fall with the hair trimmings. We listen to the stories of the performers, and we get our first tastes of comedy, much of this play is improvised by the actors. As you watch Shear Madness, you begin to see the all too stereotypical characters, you have the ditsy blond, a gay hairdresser (played wonderfully by John McGivern in the performance I saw in Milwaukee.) a police officer, high class women, and of course, the all American hunk which makes McGivern's character giggle.

This play is ever changing as the topics of interest revolve around current events going on around the city Shear Madness is open in and the United States hot topics. The current events are twisted into a funny light. The characters use a lot of improvisation and sometimes the actors cannot contain their own laughter which only makes you laugh even harder. To make sure you see each actor slip up trying hard not to giggle, bring your Opera glasses.

Unexpectedly during the play one of the actors will speak directly to a person or people in the audience to ask for opinions. You may even find yourself yelling out the answers. You must understand that you answer may vary from your neighbors, which adds an exciting new element to this wonderful performance. I do advise you to be careful if you find yourself in the first two or three rows, as you may become the topic of one of the jokes, remember though this is all in good humor.

The hair salon is really just a front for the real story, for not too far into the play we find that owner of the hair salon has been murdered. The owner lived in an apartment above the salon before she was murdered, and the plot rapidly develops into a murder mystery. As you are in attendance undoubtedly you will find yourself trying to unravel the mystery behind the murder to see if you are the first to discover the true killer. Make sure that you bring your opera glasses along, to ensure that you don't miss a single beat in this thriller.

Here is where Shear Madness gets fun. The owner of the salon is the one that is always murdered in this play, but the killer will vary from performance to performance, based on clues presented. Also the audience, based on the clues chooses who the murderer must be. This may sound odd, but is a very funny development. Many (like me) see the play over and over so that they can see the different endings!

This play is often called the longest running, or second longest running non musical performances. Many critics have given this play wonderful reviews, because of the witty comedy and wonderful performances, which is why of course; this play has been around for so long.

Remember when you attend, as always; bring your opera glasses, so as to not miss one single moment! Opera glasses will help you to make sure that you don't miss one moment or a laugh. - 18758

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