The old saying goes that a fish may love a bird but where would they set up house? The same might be said if an owl fell in love with a pussycat. Bill Manhoff has taken the question seriously, or comically if you'd prefer, in his quirky and humorous "The Owl and the Pussycat" playing weekends until Saturday, February 1 at the Connecticut Cabaret Theatre in Berlin.
If you remember the nonsense poem by Edward Lear of the same title, published in 1871, forget it. They really have nothing in common, except for the fact that two very unlikely creatures find a strange attraction. In this case, Felix Sherman has been using his binoculars and lights upon a neighbor using her bed to make a living. When he reports her, self-righteously, to the landlord, he succeeds in getting her evicted.
The lady in question, Doris Wilgus (or Washington, Waverly, Wadsworth), takes quite an exception to his honorable act of spying and plants herself on his doorstep, demanding he give her a place to sleep for the night. After all, it's his fault she is now homeless. Meet Chris Brooks' Felix and Meagan Bomar's Doris, who spar with each other verbally, sparks and four letter words flying, from the moment they collide. She asserts she is a model and an actress and he claims to be an author.
Her simplistic and undereducated background cause friction when it attacks his virtuous and intellectual demeanor. In fact, they both are under delusions of grandeur, neither being what they appear to be. Like a runaway roller coaster, they take turns being attracted and repelled by the other, with a shooting match of words striking the target. In fact, Doris is a prostitute, although she drapes herself in the cloak of respectability. Felix is a wannabe author, but he has never been published.
Can these two unlikely opposites forget their ridiculous posturings long enough to see themselves and each other for who they truly are? Let producer and director Kris McMurray strip them of their blindfolds as he serenades the audience with great and appropriate Tom Jones tunes.
For tickets ($30), call Connecticut Cabaret Theatre, 31-33 Webster Square Road, Berlin at 860-829-1248 or online at www.ctcabaret.com. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7:15 p.m. Remember to bring goodies to share at your table or plan to buy desserts and drinks on site.
In the movies it was Barbra Streisand and George Segal, on Broadway it was Diana Sands and Alan Alda. Here it's the free life style living Doris, a bombastic and enervating Meagan Bomar, entering into an explosive relationship with a stuffy and strait-laced Felix, captured by Chris Brooks' prudish perfection.
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