Diane Abela

For most locals, the ideal imaginings of a night in New York City falls to an illusional standard: a perfect storm of wit and wonder nestled in underground alcoves. Usually, predictable showers of entertainment ensue thereby satiating yet not quite mind blowing. Within the rustic and well established halls of La Mama, quintessentially located in the Lower East Side, a meteoric-hitting perfect storm of comedy came to flourishen.

That Beautiful Laugh culminates the mighty talents of Alan Tudyk, Carlton Ward and Julia Ogilvie. Conceived by Nicholas and Orlando Pabotoy, That Beautiful Laugh transported minds into, over and through a world of wonderment and endless laughter. Up the building stairway and in an intimate theatre with wooden chairs and brick laden walls, an audience sat in giddy anticipation. A genuine clown play is an occurrence of rarity even in a city of multitude venues. This clown play was once-in-a-lifetime magic. The performer and audience interaction was unique from moment to moment. When later asked of Alan if the show could be digitally recorded, Tudyk replied that it’s really something hard to capture on film. Indeed, the experience held to the purity of clown school live entertainment. Even those with clown related fears would not run into hiding but would sit at spellbound attention.

The much loved work of Alan Tudyk, such as Firefly, Death at a Funeral, Spamalot and now Suburgatory, evoked familiarity and endearment among fans. However, his role here as Flan introduced a whole new plane of viewer delight and adoration. The well polished talent of budding Julliard scholar, Julia Ogilvie as ‘Darla Waffles Something,’ inspired visceral laughter, amusement and awe. Carlton Ward – dancer, circus-performer and actor – brought a plethora of ability and sheer hilarity. One particular trick with a wire hanger did evoke slight concern about his future breeding abilities, ahem.

Adding to a great cast, the accompaniment of musicians, Harrison Beck and Eugene Ma, sealed this magnum opus of artistic clownery. The innovative puppeteering of ‘scary city’ was also an audience favorite. If a moment in time could truly be caught in a snow globe, this production should pack their red noses and get ready to float. The gem that Orlando Pabotoy has created and directed will be frozen in fond memory. His future works are much anticipated as well as those of his cast. The experience of La Mama is indicative of its 50 year anniversary season. You can see upcoming shows at http://lamama.org/.

This delivery of joy went beyond beauty, beyond explicable words …just queue the laughter. 

by Diane Abela (http://twitter.com/JDianeAbela)