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‘The Altos’ at TNT hits hilarious notes
By Lorraine Wardle
niles
If you’ve been missing “The Sopranos,” you’re in luck. “The Altos,” the latest production at the Trumbull New Theatre, offers a heavy dose of mobster melodrama with lots of laughs.
“The Altos … Like ‘The Sopranos,’ Only Lower” is a hilarious spoof, and not just for fans of the series. Friday night, the play opened to a full house and kept the audience roaring.
Though HBO’s Tony Soprano ended his show with a relatively happy ending, his TNT counterpart, Tony Alto has not been so lucky. Alto has been murdered, and it is up to the play’s audience to determine who did it.
The play takes place in the funeral home where Tony’s family and friends have come to pay their final respects. As the family arrives, we meet Tony’s wife, mother, uncle and nephew as well as a few other mourners. The audience is included in the action; we are all mourners, too.
The script, by David Landau, is an obvious parody of “The Sopranos.” Landau named his characters to mimic the ones from the HBO series. Instead of wife Carmela, we have Toffee. Uncle Junior is now Uncle Senior. And Tony Alto’s daughter is named Pasture, not Meadow.
The spoofing of names is only the beginning to the humor of “The Altos.” Landau uses every trick in the joke book with bad puns, running gags and even musical numbers popping up unexpectedly. Landau’s humor runs the gamut from silly to absurd to occasionally crass.
A large part of the fun of “The Altos” came from the audience participation. The cast often interacted with the audience, naming audience members as part of the show, and even pulling some people up on stage.
Director Terri Gilbert and her cast worked to keep the audience in stitches. JoAnn Winterbauer delighted as the rough-mannered matriarch, Nonna Alto. Susan DeLeo looked perfect as Toffee Alto, with teased hair and leopard-print mourning dress. Wayne Morlock was a tough wise-guy as Uncle Senior, and Tom Gysegem was an appropriately stooge-y Big Kitty.
Nicholas Tats, as Chris, gave an excellent portrayal of a stereotypical gangster, perfecting the movement, mannerisms and voice of a New Jersey thug. Jerry Kruse, as Tony Alto, also was a great gangster, though maybe not as imposing as he should have been.
As Father Flip, Herb Everman was more low-key with great delivery, while Debra Nuhfer’s psychologist, Dr. Malaise, was wide-eyed and nervous surrounded by the mob.
The play included three ridiculous musical numbers by Nikki Stern, which seemed more like an afterthought than a part of the play. The actors seemed hesitant while performing and unsure of their choreography. Likewise, the stage fighting seemed very fake and unrehearsed.
None of that really mattered, though, in a play this absurd. The gags and high jinks were enough to keep the audience laughing, and the quick pace kept the show moving.
“The Altos … Like ‘The Sopranos,’ Only Lower” continues at Trumbull New Theatre on Friday, Saturday, March 23 and 24 at 8 p.m. and March 25 at 3 p.m. For tickets, call 330-652-1103.