The Royal Family

Jon and I got season tickets to "Theatre Three" in Dallas, and Friday was the first show of the season. It was a play from 1927 written by Edna Ferber called "The Royal Family." It was about a theatre dynasty and the struggles that each generation goes through dealing with how their career choice affects their personal lives. It was a comedy, and it was pretty amusing, although I think some of it could have been done better. There were several standouts in the cast, including the woman who played the matron of the family and the man who played the family's business manager. Both hit their jokes with a certain degree of subtlety and sounded like they were actually saying their lines for the first time rather than the 200th. The worst part of the play - well, to me, anyway - was the actor playing the brother who decides to make a career in film rather than on the stage. The guy basically did a "Mork" impersonation the whole time. No good. No good. I couldn't understand the greater part of what he said, and his grimacing and posturing all over the stage seriously detracted from what little I could understand. I couldn't wait for him to get off the stage.

To make things worse, during the second act, some guy switched seats so he was sitting right behind me, and he laughed like a loon at anything and everything Mork did. I wanted to turn around and say, "Really?" Plus, he had the swine flu or something and he snorted in my ear the entire second act. Kind of gross. Also, at any given point during the performance, you could count about three people asleep in the audience. And it was really obvious because it's a tiny theatre in the round, and I felt so bad for the poor actors trying not to be discouraged by the big fat lady asleep on the front row. At least no one started snoring.

Overall, the play was pretty average. There were some funny parts, and then some parts that were supposed to be funny, I think, but the actors kind of played it a little too realistic so I actually felt bad for them for dealing with a real problem rather than laughing at them for being ridiculous. It's a fine line, folks. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and hope Mork doesn't make any more appearances!