The Post-Standard News
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October 11, 1997
Section: CNY
Edition: Metro
Page: E5

A great script and a big, talented cast working under sharp direction make Appleseed Productions' "Dinner at Eight" a 
rich, varied and satisfying evening of theater.

The script, by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, makes tough demands because some two dozen characters have 
to be clearly individualized. Appleseed's ensemble makes that part look easy. But the tone of the 1930s comedy is 
tricky too.

New York socialite Millicent Jordan is frantically trying to bring off a great coup, a dinner party for real English nobility.

The first two acts float along as pure farce, with Millicent's ill-assorted lot of guests heading on a collision course toward 
her dinner party.

But we gradually see that her guests are mostly driven by greed, vanity, lust and ambition.

Their final coming together in the last scene makes for comedy, but of a somber sort, and as they raise their cocktail 
glasses, they all seem to be dancing over the void.

And again, skilled acting and directing make the shift in tone seem inevitable. As the lights fade on the last scene, a 
1930s arrangement of the song "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" makes a final, derisive comment.

A few fine furnishings, against a silhouette of the New York skyline, nicely suggest a luxury apartment. Ann Rott's 
costumes reflect 1930s period styles, especially in the ladies' gowns.

Whomever he co-wrote with, Kaufman was a master at crafting deft lines that open up character and situation as well 
as triggering a laugh. For example, Millicent (when asked whether her daughter, Paula, will be at the dinner party): "No, 
she isn't invited."

Some of the acting styles vary, from broad to realistic. But the acting is done with conviction, and there are more good 
acting jobs than can be recognized here.

Anne Sermon is endlessly energetic and vapid as Millicent, always on the phone about her string of social events. 
Doug Walls is her burdened husband, Oliver, trying to save the family shipping business amid the Great Depression.

When Joe Zappala is onstage, you can just relax and watch his wonderful, nuanced creation of Larry Renault, a has-
been actor. Anne Raynor is the aged, still-glamorous Carlotta, former toast of Broadway and an old flame of Oliver.

Ron Milton clomps in and out as Dan Packard, a glad-handing but mean-souled Texas wheeler-dealer. Tracy Randall is 
his trampy wife, Kitty, with a voice like a hacksaw hitting sheet metal.

Below stairs, a little tragicomedy among the servants is in the able hands of Scott Hoehn (butler), Christina Carney 
(maid), Michael Hotaling (chauffeur) and Linda Lance (cook).

Roseanne Fortino and Tom Minion strike an understated note of integrity as Millicent's "poor relations."

Bob Brophy is the able but womanizing Dr. Talbot.

Copyright (c), 1997, The Herald Company.