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August 1- 7, 2002 artpicks Viva Variety
Ten years onstage in Atlantic City, two years on Broadway, a night at the White House, and you're bound to learn a few tricks. R.J. Lewis just happened to take those tricks -- you know, the garden variety optical illusion, fire eating, cutting a gal in half -- and sew them together with some old-school Americana theater, then tailor them to his perfect fit. Society Hill Playhouse's "Stage Struck," both written by and starring Lewis, is a romp that exercises what Lewis does best: everything. A true jack-of-all-trades, Lewis takes the stage on Aug. 7 in this one-man show as Simon, an average-joe security guard, who has been assigned to a dilapidated, forsaken theater the night before its scheduled demolition. After settling in for an exciting evening of staring at the crumbling walls, Simon quickly learns that the theater, once home to America's finest vaudeville acts, is anything but abandoned. Hearing a muffled voice whimpering from a locked trunk, Simon discovers Wilson, a talking ventriloquist dummy, stuffed inside. It turns out that the place is haunted, and according to Wilson, the old performers want Simon as a medium. The spirits possess Simon, and one by one, he reenacts each one's story: the juggler, the stilt-dancer, the magician, the opera singer, the plate spinner and, of course, the ventriloquist. "Stage Struck" is a light-hearted venture through the lost annals of vaudeville, where back in its heyday (1890s to 1932, till the birth of the Hollywood monster), campy costumes and shtick insults were cheap, entertaining and wildly popular. Garnering a "Best Show" nomination at the New York International Fringe Theater Festival, "Stage Struck" is a one-man show that never lacks variety. “Stage Struck,” Aug. 7-Sept. 8, $15-$30, Society Hill Playhouse, 507 S. Eighth St., 215-923-0210.
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