"THE COMPLETE WORD OF GOD ABRIDGED" REVEALS ALL WITH WIT AND WISDOM

  -->

Call Joe, Matthew and Bobby archangels, prophets, wise men or saints, just don't call them late for the Last Supper.  Also if you are preparing to be a contestant on the new television game show, "Great American Bible Challenge," these guys are definitely not the experts you should take as the gospel.  But if your sense of humor is intact and your funny bone is eager to be exercised, then "The Bible The Complete Word of God (Abridged)" might be just what your priest, minister, iman or rabbi has ordered.

Weekends until Saturday, November 17, the Connecticut Cabaret Theatre of Berlin is being supremely irreverent and raising holy heck in the process.  If you're looking for purity and sacredness, replace these  words with profane and sacrilegious, and plain vanilla  silliness and fun.

Joe Autuoro, Matthew Collin Marrero and Bobby Shultz are eager to take you on a religious romp through the Old and New Testaments and they take no prisoners along the way.  Starting with the proverbial fig leaf, they sashay through the Garden of Eden and Genesis with a lively "In the Beginning Blues," kazoo and all.  From pollution to politics to Perry Mason, nothing is safe from satire.

With a style that resembles vaudeville, Monty Python and Saturday Night Live, this talented trio fast forwards from Abraham to Esau, Ruth, Job and King Solomon, although Matthew has a real fixation on Noah and his ark.The audience members actually go two-by-two as they verbally sing out as pigs, ducks, trout, cats and gorillas.  The audience learns such valuable information as wise men don't ask directions (that is why Moses was lost in the desert for forty years), God is a woman (who answers to the name of Shirley), the origin of circumcision was Abraham (Abraham Lincoln, that is), America runs on Dunkin' and Jeremiah was a bullfrog.  Artistic director Kris McMurray presides over the comic chaos with a firm hand and an outstretched arm.


For tickets ($30), call the 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.  Bring goodies to share at your table or buy desserts and drinks on site.

God clearly has a sense of humor as this humor filled show fixates on the more memorable moments of the good book as they have never been viewed before. In no way does this presentation replace church, mosque or synagogue  attendance.  Oy vey, OMG.