UWM Post fringe

A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine

By Michael Ray

Movie theaters were once glorious, architectural masterpieces where all classes of people could gather for an inexpensive night on the town. Palaces like Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, with its celebrity footprints cast in concrete, were the norm and a night at the movies was something special.

Hollywood was a wonderland full of amazing movie stars like Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and the Marx Brothers. Movies were an escape from the realities of daily life, especially following the Great Depression. And though this all might seem like just some long ago and far away dream, for a few hours at the Skylight Opera Theatre here in Milwaukee, audiences are taken back.

A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine is essentially two one-act plays that function and flow as a tribute to Hollywood’s glory days and its early comedy heroes the Marx Brothers.

A Day in Hollywood winds through the movie music of the 1930s as told by the star struck ushers at Grauman’s, whose singing and tap dancing prepares the audience for a special Marx Brothers film.

The most enjoyable parts of Hollywood include the mixed medley of “It All Comes out of the Piano,” and a hilariously sung trip through the Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 governing onscreen sex and violence—kisses may last for no more than six seconds with a closed dry mouth, by the way.

After all that preparation and dancing, and a short intermission, the Marx brothers, led by Norman Moses’ Groucho as “a most obnoxious lawyer,” showed that perfect comic timing and chemistry is all but dead. A Night in the Ukraine, loosely based on Anton Chekov’s play, The Bear, reminded audiences why the brothers are still regarded as comedy geniuses.

Benjamin Howes and Norman Moses

The wrong mix of Marx brothers could have made for a lackluster show, but there was none of that here. Moses nailed it, tossing insult after overwhelming insult at Mrs. Pavlenko (Carol Greif Schuele). Benjamin Howes’ Chico and Ray Jivoff’s Harpo mixed naivety with joviality to round out the energy.

Jivoff especially was the brother to watch, whether climbing under the piano or sneaking up to the balcony to watch Melinda Pfundstein’s Nina cry over a man, all the time shoveling popcorn in his mouth. For a character that never spoke a word, it’s especially impressive to see him own a stage.

Schuele’s take on Pavlenko, both fascinated and horrified at Groucho the entire play, helped open up some of the Brother’s funnier lines.

Pfundstein and her love interest Constantine, played by Chase Stoeger, poked fun at themselves through a measured bit of overacting and found themselves keeping pace with the Marxist insanity twirling around them.

Together the cast managed to create a highly entertaining show, doing the past and its stars justice. Hollywood might no longer be Hollywood, and movies may no longer be movies, but one night at the Skylight can bring it back.