AIR FARCE ROMANCE: Theatre Albany performs ‘Boeing Boeing’

ALBANY — Juggling three balls in the air is a challenge. Juggling three fiancees in the air is farce, especially when those high-flying love interests suddenly come in for “rendezwoos” landings all the same time.

That’s what faces American architect Bernard in Theatre Albany’s upcoming production of the Broadway comedy “Boeing Boeing.” Gordon Wright is guest director for the play, which opens Friday night at the theater, located at 514 Pine Ave.

“The premise is I’m an American living in Paris,” David Ward, who plays Bernard, said. “I’ve come across a unique way of having a number of fiancees.

“My scheme is to have them all as air hostesses and they’re on different schedules with different airlines, so I think I can juggle them around. It’s just to keep them rotating, keep them on the line, but never commit. Then, circumstances happen and all their schedules get combined, and they all end up here.”

He deadpans: “Comedic chaos ensues.”

With American Gloria (Kelly Mullins), Italian Gabriella (Leigh Ann Young) and German Gretchen (Karen Spicer) circling Paris and disaster imminent, Bernard needs some aiding and abetting to keep his scheme aloft.

Part of that is accomplished by his barb-tongued maid, Francie, played by Francie Micus.

“I’m the French maid that came with the flat,” Micus said.

She’s also, in many ways, Bernard’s fixer — keeping his increasingly complicated love life running as smoothly as it can under the circumstances. It’s not a duty she’s particularly fond of, leading her to be, in Ward’s words, “grumpy,” leading to a flurry of zingers aimed directly at her boss.

“It’s a fun role. I love her,” Micus said of Bertha. “She’s hysterical.”

Bernard also gets some help from across the Great Pond with the arrival of Robert (Eric Yesbick), an old college buddy from Wisconsin who’s come to Paris to visit him.

But, as one might suspect, Robert’s activities aren’t always in Bernard’s best interests.

“I’m an old friend that hasn’t seen him (Bernard) in a long time, and I kind of get swept up into this world that he has. And I’m amazed,” Yesbick said. “I start helping him cover up.”

The corrupting influence goes beyond helping a lothario navigate treacherous skies.

“As the play progresses, he starts to fall apart and my role becomes bigger and bigger,” Yesbick said. “But I’m also kissing girls behind his back without his knowledge, so I’m not the best friend in the world.”

“Proverbially, when you’re in Rome, do as the Romans do, it’s just in Paris,” Ward said, adding he was happy to be working again with Yesbick. They performed at Theatre Albany together in “Rumours” and “Legally Blonde: The Musical,” in which Ward portrayed heroine Elle Woods’ chief nemesis, Professor Callahan.

“I’ve come to find I’m more than comfortable being the antagonist,” Ward shrugged.

“Boeing Boeing” is fast-paced and challenging, he said.

“Initially, when you get a look at a script like this and you see the amount of lines and the things you have to do, it can seem a little overwhelming,” he said. “But everyone’s coming together very well.

“I think it’s going to be a great performance, especially Bertha (Micus) and the ladies. We’re looking forward to it.”

Yesbick agreed.

“Everybody in this cast I’ve worked with before,” he said. “It’s always a pleasure.”

Mullins said everyone’s had a good time as they taxi up for Friday night’s maiden flight.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of laughs doing it. It’s hard to keep a straight face. I think people will enjoy the fast pace of it, the energy.

“There are a lot of funny lines throughout, and we’ve had a great time as a cast getting it together.”

Young agreed that the show’s “a lot of fun,” as is her character, Italian airline attendant Gabriella.

“I love my character,” she said. “I think she’s great. She’s a little feisty, a little hot-headed. She loses her temper, but then she’s back in love the very next minute.”

Mullins plays an airline attendant who’s closer to home — just across the Chattahoochee River, in fact.

Gloria is “from Alabama, so I’ve got the country twang that I can do pretty easily, and I don’t have to worry about that,” she said. “I’m enjoying that, too.

“I get to be a little ditsy and Southern and blonde — not that that’s cliché at all.”

“Boeing Boeing” was written by French playwright Marc Camoletti. Beverley Cross translated the English language adaptation, which debuted in London in 1962. It won a Tony for Best Revival of a Play when it was revived on Broadway in 2008.

“I think this is one of the most performed plays throughout the country,” Micus said. “It’s been translated in all kinds of languages and originally was in French.”

In 1991, the Guinness Book of Records listed “Boeing Boeing” as the most performed French play in the world.

Theatre Albany’s performances open at 7:30 p.m. Friday, with evening performances also set for Saturday and March 28-30. Sunday matinees are scheduled for 2 p.m. on March 24 and 31.

Wright, the guest director, is a retired high school and college language arts teacher who directed more than 10 one-act plays for regional competitions. He designed and constructed more than 20 sets for main stage productions at Darton State College. Wright has directed more than 40 plays and musicals as director of Drama Ministries for First United Methodist Church of Albany. In addition to directing the Dougherty County School System’s first region-winning one-act play, more than 45 of his students over the years have gone on to a variety of roles in theater.

Also with the production is Director’s Assistant Jennifer Knighton, Stage Manager Mary Lou Beasley and Properties Manager Jim LeVaughn.

Tickets go on sale to the general public online (albanytheatre.com) on Monday, and at the box office starting Wednesday. They are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for students and active military. The box office is open noon-3 p.m. weekdays during the production and one hour before curtain. The box office can be reached at (229) 439-7141 during operating hours.

Contact freelance writer Jim Hendricks at [email protected]. Follow @JimEHendricks on Twitter.