First of all, we were happy to discover this place. I was a virgin to both the show and company, so I have no previous productions of theirs to compare Noises Off<\/em> to.\u00a0 I think it was so much more enjoyable that way, going in with a totally open mind.<\/p>\n Photo by Craig Schwartz, as is the big one\u00a0at the top of this page.<\/p><\/div>\n I had<\/em> been to the old A Noise Within space once previously, but it was at least a decade ago, and it was for a party, not a show. The company was using the third floor of an interesting old building in Glendale back then.\u00a0 But for the past seven years, it\u2019s been housed in a very modern (but still interesting) edifice that features a lot of open space in the actual auditorium, which is a plus. It reminded me so much of my beloved summer stock theaters in New York and New England, and I loved that feeling of being out of town.\u00a0 (I actually was<\/em> sort-of out of town because Pasadena, especially that part of that city, is a day trip to us Westsiders!)<\/p>\n But they really need better air-conditioning, pronto!\u00a0 A few of us almost fainted from the heat, despite begging them to make it more comfortable.\u00a0 Audience members constantly fanning themselves during the performance is sooo distracting! (I guess that\u2019s less distracting than someone actually passing-out, which I did<\/em> witness at a different theatre recently, but still…)<\/p>\n Despite the totally uncomfortable temperature, and sugary-only snacks at the concession stand, we loved the show!!!\u00a0 I\u2019ve honestly never heard Joanne laugh so much!\u00a0\u00a0(You see\u2014it really\u00a0is\u00a0not about me!)\u00a0 The last few plays she reviewed with me were duds, so I\u2019m grateful to this company for resurrecting my reputation as one of her most fun friends!<\/p>\n In case you\u2019re one of the few other souls who\u2019ve never seen\u00a0Noises Off<\/em>, it\u2019s a frenetic British comedy.\u00a0 But no worries\u2014it\u2019s so good that it cannot even be in the same sentence as the inane oh-so-famous-in-England\u00a0No Sex Please, We\u2019re British<\/em>, even though this, too, is classified as a farce.\u00a0 But it\u2019s actually not\u00a0truly<\/em>\u00a0a farce\u2014the\u00a0play-within-the-play<\/em>\u00a0is the farce.<\/p>\n There are three acts, which made me panic a bit when I found that fact out pre-curtain, because I hate sitting in one place that long, but the time flew by.\u00a0 The first act shows us the last rehearsal of a play, the second gives us a peek into the backstage action a few weeks later, and the the third is a late-run performance of the play.\u00a0 And it\u2019s all tons of fun, (even though Act III is sort-of superfluous.)<\/p>\n The weird thing is that I spent more time smiling<\/em> than actually laughing out loud, but I\u2019m pretty sure that had more to do with the heat than the production.\u00a0 But I also understood only about two-thirds of the dialogue, which I think was a combination of the English accents and fast talking, and loud audience laughter and acoustics.\u00a0 (When the actors were not facing us, their words got a tiny bit muffled.)\u00a0 But I swear, even without getting every word, this show is excellent.\u00a0 And the absolutely packed house, on\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0opening night, enjoyed the ride.\u00a0 There were big guffaws with just about every line, which is quite the rarity.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all so well-done.\u00a0 Everything about this production is spot-on.\u00a0 With so many actors and props and entrances and exits, and constant action, it all has to be tight, tight, tight.\u00a0 And it is.\u00a0 The entire production is a lot of work! And in this case, that blood, sweat, and tears totally succeeds.<\/p>\n Kasey Mahaffy is the guy pictured here. Photo by Craig Schwartz.<\/p><\/div>\n There are no weaknesses in the cast,\u00a0(and all their English accents are excellent\u2014not one of them annoyed me\u2014another rarity,)\u00a0but Kasey Mahaffy is the stand-out.\u00a0 Joanne kept saying, \u201cHe\u2019s terrific,\u201d an assessment with which I totally concur.\u00a0 His lithe physicality is a thing of beauty. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve seen such supple moves since early Jim Carrey.<\/p>\n The interesting thing is that these actors are all members of the A Noise Within company. [Note: That’s more than the name of the theatre–it’s a repertory company.] \u00a0That means that they’re basically people who more often than not perform the classics, like Shakespeare and Dickens. \u00a0So that they all have such impeccable comic timing is incredible to me.<\/p>\n If any of you have ever seen\u00a0The Norman Conquests<\/em>, this show reminded me somewhat of it.\u00a0 That<\/em> one is a comedy that features six characters in one house, but shows the action that\u2019s happening at one in three different rooms. To get the entire scenario, you have to see the show on three different nights. With Noises Off<\/em>, you get the on-stage and backstage versions, with the action taking place at different times, but it\u2019s similar in a way. Only here, we get to see both locations in one evening. (And<\/em> there are a lot of doors being slammed!)<\/p>\n Speaking of locations, this set by Fred Kinney is excellent! No matter where you sit in the three-sided audience, you get to see everything. For once in my life, I didn\u2019t look around the theatre, trying to figure out if there was a more advantageous seat!<\/p>\n This is how much I recommend this production of\u00a0Noises Off<\/em>\u2014if the theatre fixes its A\/C, I would go back and see it again!!!\u00a0 And I\u2019ve thought that about only one other show, (Something Rotten<\/em>,) outside of Matthew Bourne ballets, in probably decades!<\/p>\n Noises Off\u00a0<\/em>running through May 26, 2018<\/strong> NOISES OFF I cannot believe that I, an avid theatre-goer since Day 1, (okay, since I was about five-years-old, so since Day 1,825,) had never seen the almost-four-decades-old British comedy,\u00a0Noises Off!\u00a0 (And until I did research for this review, I didn\u2019t even know that it was ever also a film.)\u00a0 So, when I heard that<\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Noises_CraigSchwartz_061.jpg\")
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\n A Noise Within \u00a03352 E. Foothill Blvd. \u00a0Pasadena \u00a0626-356-3121\u00a0\u00a0www.anoisewithin.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"