“George & Gracie: A Love Story” puts a night of humor, a dollop of sweetness and a touch of magic on the stage of Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Stackner Cabaret.
Veteran theater artist Tami Workentin wrote this swift-moving play with a little music about a show-business couple to perform with her own offstage husband, James Pickering.
For more than 40 years, George Burns (1896-1996) and Gracie Allen (1895-1964) were a leading comic duo, spanning vaudeville, radio, movies and the early years of television. As the straight man and primary writer, George would set up Gracie, whose daffy humor provoked audience laughter.
In her script, Workentin has Gracie call her approach “illogical logic.” Often it relied on Gracie switching the meaning of a word in mid-conversation.
Here’s an example from Workentin’s play. George asks Gracie if she filed her tax return. She says yes, she’s expecting a big refund. He asks how much:
Gracie: Six million dollars.
George: How did you get that figure?
Gracie: No starches and plenty of exercise.
Pickering and Workentin dish out these bon mots with the élan of original-recipe vaudevillians. And the Stackner audience at the May 3 opening performance gulped them down.
“George & Gracie” dramatizes the night in Newark when George, who had been trying to be the funny one, realized that Gracie was funnier and, to his credit, switched roles. Workentin’s reaction suggests Gracie already knew that, but was waiting for him to come around. it’s not the only time in this story we experience that dynamic.
Gracie’s heart condition, mentioned early, adds a touch of tragic depth to the story. We know George will long outlive his wife and partner. “George & Gracie” begins with the older George on the night of his first solo show after Gracie’s death.
What elevates this script and show above a standard stage biography is deployment of a third character, the elevator guy, played with flair by Jonathan Riker. He’s the psychopomp who guides present-day old George back into his memories of life with Gracie so we can experience them fresh. Elevator guy also performs small magic tricks and illusions (taught by consultant Wolfe Bowart) that add some period-friendly razzle dazzle. After Riker’s performance here and in Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s “I Am My Own Wife” earlier this season, casting directors really need to be paying attention to him.
Director Laura Braza’s crisp staging includes a grace note I really like: putting Riker in costume on stage playing with props and moving scenic items as a low-key prelude before the show opens. As I’ve written before, devising some activity on stage for people settling in before the show starts is a way theaters can distinguish and enhance the quality of a live theatrical experience.
The only comic bits in this production that didn’t land fully for me were from Gracie’s publicity stunt campaign for president in 1940. That is no fault of the writer or performer. Gracie’s comic campaign, like those of Will Rogers and Pat Paulsen, allowed Americans to satirize and poke fun at the inanities of the political process. But the scorched-earth brutality of national politics today dampens my amusement in this quaint material.
After the Milwaukee production, this gang will perform it at Northern Sky Theatre in Door County (Sept. 9-Oct. 24). If Workentin chooses to make “George & Gracie” available to other performers, I can imagine this entertaining story getting productions around the country.
If you go
Milwaukee Repertory Theater performs “George & Gracie: A Love Story” through June 14 at the Stackner Cabaret, 108 E. Wells St. Visit milwaukeerep.com or call (414) 224-9490. Milwaukee Rep recommends this show for people 14 years and older.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Rep’s ‘George & Gracie’ brings sweet, daffy duo back to life
Reporting by Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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