“Fully Committed” is what five-star restaurants say when they mean booked-up.
It’s also the best possible description for actor Steven Burge’s energetic and exhaustive performance in Becky Mode’s one-man play of the same name.
Burge plays Sam Peliczowski, the sweet but souring young grunt who’s stuck manning the reservation line at a sizzling New York restaurant that’s booked solid months in advance. And, over the play’s 90 minutes, the more than 30 cranky socialites, celebrity handlers, family members and co-workers who complicate and aggravate his life. Sometimes four at a time. It’s like a food fight with words.
Just reading the list of characters Burge takes on is worth a chuckle: Bunny Vandevere. The Sheik’s Right-Hand Man. Laryngitis Guy. Depressed Secretary. Smarmy Man.
Sam, as you might imagine, is having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. He’s a struggling actor going nowhere. His nice, midwestern father just wants him home for Christmas, but Sam’s low man on the totem pole here. He’ll have to work.
The callers making Sam’s phone ring off the hook don’t care about Sam. Or his day. Or his feelings. They just want to eat. Tonight. And a surprising number of them want Table 31.
The poor guy isn’t just managing one phone line. There’s also the intercom to the restaurant staff upstairs. And the “red phone” on the wall that goes off like a siren whenever the domineering jerk of a chef wants Sam’s ear.
With this endearing staging, the Aurora Fox returns to one of its hits from 2002, only now set in its more intimate new studio theater.
No matter how elegant you might imagine a fictional French restaurant to look, we’re stuck with Sam in a slovenly basement dungeon where scenic designer Michael R. Duran intentionally angles the walls to look as though they are falling in on him.
It’s an enormous acting challenge — not just to pull off all these crazy characters, but to have them converse with requisite distinction. Burge has to play male and female; young and old; eccentric and endearing; Japanese and Mideastern — for starters. He has to play it bitchy and butchy; tough and tender. And be funny.
Burge, one of the most fearless comic actors in town, succeeds in ways you’d least suspect — by quickly but calmly tackling each task, patiently working his way from one winning moment to the next.
But he’s not in this alone. His “acting partner” here is his unseen stage manager, Lindsay Sullivan. There’s a video camera cleverly hidden in a sandwich box next to Sam’s phone that feeds backstage, where Sullivan executes more than 300 sound and light cues with impeccable timing.
It’s like watching a duet where one partner, like most of the characters Burge plays, is unseen.
This play should be appealing not only to anyone who works in the service industry, but anyone who has suffered boors, fools and pretentious snobs.
Now Burge deserves the kind of crowds Sam’s restaurant attracts: the fully committed kind.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Fully Committed” ***1/2 (out of four stars)
Comic telethon Aurora Fox studio theater, 9900 E. Colfax Ave.Written by Becky Mode. Directed by Terry Dodd. Starring Steven Burge. Through Dec. 20. 90 minutes with no intermission. 7:30 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and also Dec. 10 and 17; 2 p.m. Sundays. $20-$24, 303-739-1970 or
Best bet: “Riverdance”
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You may think of “Riverdance” as an Irish step-dancing phenomenon but in its final (they swear) eight performances ever in Denver, the cast will include Bill Kanaly, a 2009 graduate of Cherry Creek High who left the University of Colorado at Boulder three weeks after the start of his freshman year to join up with this final Riverdance American tour. It’s full circle time for Kanaly, who tool up Irish dancing in 1998 after seeing “Riverdance” tour through Denver. He’s competed for the 11 years since. In its 13 years since debuting in Dublin, “Riverdance.” has staged more than 10,000 live performances for than 21 million people in 32 countries – not including a worldwide TV audience of 2 billion more. “Riverdance’s” appeal is rooted in its precision, energy, spectacle and sensuality while drawing on centuries-old Irish traditions. Performances 7:30 p.m. Nov. 24-25 and 27-29. Also 2 p.m. Nov. 25 and Nov. 28-29, all at the Buell Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex. Tickets $20-$60; 303-893-4100, King Soopers stores or
This weekend’s theater openings
“Absurd Person Singular” Alan Ayckbourn’ s dark British class comedy follows the reversing forunes of three upwardly mobile British couples on three successive Christmas days. Starring Megan Byrne, Chris Mixon, John Hutton, Jeanne Paulsen, Kathleen McCall and David Ivers.Through Dec. 19. Presented by the Denver Center Theatre Company, at the SpaceTheatre, 14th and Curtis streets. 303-893-4100 (800-641-1222 outside Denver), at all King Soopers or
“The Accident” Australian solo artist Jonno Katz, who melds the worlds of theater, mime, dance and stand-up, performs an unusual tale of two brothers. Through Nov. 21. Manitou Art Theatre, 1367 Pecan St., Colorado Springs, 719-685-4729 or
“The Christmas of the Angels” This original take on the Nativity story, written by Michael R. Duran, is told through the eyes of three watching angels. This staging is accompanied by the Aurora Symphony Orchestra. Through Dec. 20. Shadow Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora, 720-857-8000 or
“A Christmas Carol” Charles Dickens’ classic tale of Scrooge, Jacob Marley and redemption. Through Dec. 23. Lake Dillon Theatre Company, 176 Lake Dillon Drive, 970-513-9386 or
“A Christmas Story” Stage adaptation of the popular film about 9-year-old Ralphie, who only wants for Christmas a genuine Red Ryder BB gun. Through Dec. 20. Aurora Fox, 9900 E. Colfax Ave., 303-739-1970 or
“The Comedy of Errors” Shakespearean romp about two sets of identical twins who are accidentally separated at birth. Through Dec. 5. Upstart Crow at the Dairy Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-444-7328 or
“Plaid Tidings” A holiday variation on “Forever Plaid,” the popular revue of 1950s pop standards. Through Dec. 31. Union Colony, 802 Ninth Ave., Greeley, 970-352-2900 or
“Slut Energy Theory” Return engagement of jazz singer Rene Marie’s one-woman musical play about the harrowing life experiences of the fictional U’Dean Morgan. Based on Marie’s songs and essays. Through Sunday. Crossroads Theatre, 2590 Washington St., 303-832-0929 or
“Who Wants to Murder a Millionaire?” Interactive mystery dinner theater, where your presence is requested at the reading of the will for a recently deceased multibillionaire. Through Jan. 23. Adams Mystery Playhouse, 2406 Federal Blvd., 303-455-1848 or
Complete theater listings
Go to our complete list of in Colorado, including summaries, run dates, addresses, phones and links to every company’s home page. Or check out our listings or
The Running Lines blog
Catch up on John Moore’s roundup of theater news and dialogue.
