Community Players `Tomfoolery' waxes nostalgic

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By DON FOWLER

Pawtucket’s Community Players is only eight years older than songwriter Tom Lehrer, entering their 96th season and providing a bit of nostalgic “TomFoolery” with their 360th production.

If you were around in the fifties and sixties, you’ll remember the sometimes bawdy, sometimes macabre and always satirically hilarious lyrics of his parodies. He never had much of a singing voice, but he sure did know how to put a song together. And the six-member cast and four-member band tackle over two dozen of them, beginning with the classic “Be Prepared” where Lehrer pokes fun at the Boy Scouts, and ending with “We Will All Go Together When We Go,” a rather dismal look at nuclear disaster.

The cast members have good, not great, voices – much better than Lehrer’s – and good sound and diction make it possible to catch the clever use of language.

Poking fun at animal lovers (“Poisoning Pigeons in the Park”), southerners (“I Wanna Go Back to Dixie”), true love (“She’s My Girl”), and war (So Long, Mom”), Lehrer leaves no stone unturned in making fun of society. Some of the songs are terribly dated, but others are as relevant today as they were over 60 years ago.

The cast of Vivienne Carrette, Alyce Fitzgerald, Christopher Margadonna, Ken McPherson, Paul N. Oliver and Michael Thurber work hard singing solo and together, changing costumes and props between every number, and telling little tidbits about Lehrer, a Harvard graduate student, songwriter, satirist, pianist and mathematician. Thurber carried the heaviest load and stood out with his excellent voice, humor and stage presence.

I ran into Councilman Steve Stycos at intermission, and we both reminisced about our worn out Tom Lehrer LP and our favorite numbers. Joyce stayed in her seat and watched the properties crew add and subtract dozens of items used in the lively production.

“TomFoolery” is a fun show, bringing back many memories of a songwriter with a slightly twisted mind who was quite shocking at times when folks were a bit more politically correct.

“TomFoolery is at Community Players, which uses the Jencks Auditorium, 350 Division St., Pawtucket, across from McCoy Stadium. Check them out online at thecommunityplayers.net. For reservations call 726-6860. The show is on April 1, 2, 8 and 9, Saturdays at 7:30 and Sundays at 2 p.m.

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