Moon Over Buffalo – Opening the New Year with Laughter

There seems to be little disagreement out there. Critics, audiences and actors LOVE a Ken Ludwig play, and on Friday the much beloved and lauded Grand Rapids Civic Theatre opens with his Moon Over Buffalo comedy for a 3-weekend run.

Liz Smith of the New York Post claimed to see this show an impressive three times, and The New York Times called the author “one of those rare contemporary playwrights who thinks in terms of old-fashioned knockabout farce…. something to be cherished.”

Moon Over Buffalo comic story centers on George and Charlotte Hay, fading stars of the 1950’s who are on the brink of a disastrous split-up caused by George’s dalliance with a young ingénue.

And what distracts them from their personal train wreck is a chance at stardom though an encounter with Frank Capra,  rumored to be coming to town to see their matinee. If Capra likes what he sees, he might cast them in his movie remake of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Unfortunately for George and Charlotte,  nothing ever goes as planned as their perfect story line is interrupted with laugh-out-loud hilarity of mistaken identities, some unrequited love, a bottle of bourbon poured into a pot of coffee.

If you attend this production, you’ll see Knight-Ridder critic Clifford Ridley observed: “It’s safe to say that you have never seen a ‘Private Lives’ like this one [and] you’ve never seen a funnier one.”


Admission: $14 – 25. Reserved