Northlight Theatre’s “The Angel Next Door,” with Garrett Lutz, Erin Noel Grennan and Sean Fortunato/Photo: Justin Barbin
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Northlight Theatre’s latest production concludes their fiftieth season as well as their twenty-nine-year tenure at the North Shore Center. The company is set to begin their next season in an even nicer theater, located smack dab in the heart of downtown Evanston. This is a cause for celebration and, in that spirit, longtime Artistic Director BJ Jones presents the very fun and easily digested “The Angel Next Door,” a production he refers to as a “theatrical bonbon” in the press release.
An old-fashioned screwball comedy, Paul Slade Smith’s play is based on Ferenc Molnár’s classic farce, “A Play at the Castle,” and set during Broadway’s golden era. The plot involves an aw-shucks writer named Oliver (Garrett Lutz) with a can’t-miss, definitely-going-to-be-a-big-hit first novel. His mentors are the married playwrights Arthur and Charlotte Sanders (Sean Fortunato and Katy Sullivan). Old family friends, they have first rights on the play adaptation. To celebrate the soon-to-be-published novel’s certain success, the Sanders arrange for themselves and Oliver a couple of rooms at a mansion. In an adjoining room is Broadway star Margo Bell (Aja Alcazar), who may or may not be Oliver’s serious girlfriend.
Regardless of their relationship status, it was Oliver’s love for Margo that served as inspiration for his novel. Oliver, in fact, has decided he cannot possibly publish his novel without her approval. Margo, though, is in a loud situationship (remember, she is staying next door to Oliver) with the not-so-bright Victor Pratt (Andrés Enriquez), a womanizing actor who enjoys referring to himself as “Broadway’s Favorite Baritone.” Which leaves it up to the playwrights to make everything right, and maybe even land Margo in the starring role for their play.
Northlight Theatre’s “The Angel Next Door,” with Katy Sullivan, Garrett Lutz and Sean Fortunato/Photo: Justin Barbin
As the old adage says, “dying is easy, comedy is hard.” True farce, with its many moving pieces, is actually even a bit harder. Director Linda Fortunato makes it look easy by pushing the action into an almost, but not quite, out-of-control frenzy. Not every joke lands exactly as it should, but this is mostly a quick-paced and funny production that delivers plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. Doing the heavy lifting is the very capable cast, led by Katy Sullivan as Charlotte Sanders, an optimistic counterweight to her decidedly “all is lost” husband, played by the perfectly cast Sean Fortunato. Erin Noel Grennan steals every scene with her hilarious depiction of a housemaid well beyond caring what you think of her.
With its several misunderstandings and over-the-top zany side characters, “The Angel Next Door” possesses more than a passing resemblance to several classic sitcoms. What pushes it beyond “Three’s Company” territory, however, is its relentless disregard for the fourth wall. That, as well as its frequent insider jokes, allows the production to settle at times into an almost tutorial mode. It’s still funny. But it also showcases a metacognitive edge that unabashedly celebrates the joy of theatrical productions such as, ahem, “The Angel Next Door.” Think too hard about it and it might give you a headache. But on stage it actually works out quite well.
On stage at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Boulevard, Skokie, through May 10. Tickets are $46-$98 and are available at northlight.org or by calling (847)673-6300.
