The Little Dog Laughed is easily the funniest play I’ve seen this season, and that’s saying a lot at the end of May. But that’s still not the most significant fact about the Douglas Carter Beane comedy.

The SNAP! Production directed by Todd Brooks at the Shelterbelt gives Connie Lee a chance to shine in a role that guarantees more honors coming her way. She’s Diane, the agent who represents actor Mitchell Green (Jim Palmer), a gay man whose career and hers hinge on keeping him in the closet.

From her hilarious opening monologue to a closing speech that completes the nursery rhyme title (“to see such sport and the dish ran away with the spoon”), Lee is simply delicious despite her character’s crass Hollywood pragmatism. No review can capture her delivery, but imagine the quintessential Connie bursting into a room, catching her movie star and a young man (Michael Juarez) with their pants down and complaining, “Puh-leeze!”

Or preparing Mitchell to face the press and barking, “For me, butch it up, Mary.” Or declaring, “All gay men hate women unless they’re in a black and white movie and suffering majestically.”

If you’ve only seen Ms. Lee in such serious roles as Regina in Lillian Hellman’s Little Foxes, don’t fail to catch this facet of her wide-ranging talent.

Having said all that doesn’t mean the rest of the cast can’t carry a significant swath of the story. Palmer and Juarez deal convincingly with the relationship dance that’s required when two men hesitate to face their sexuality with candor.

Their first encounter finds Palmer’s Mitchell drunk, only vaguely aware that he has summoned a male prostitute, Juarez as Alex. The latter explains that he’s “not a sex with guys kind of person,” and “I’m not queer, I have a girl friend.”

At a later sleepover, he finds that he’s fond of hearing Mitchell snore, and exclaims, “I’m gay as a goose.”

Credit director Brooks and Palmer for fashioning a low-key style that underlines Mitchell’s quiet yearning for a more honest life. Playwright Beane handles the coming-out issue effectively with the exception of a heavy-handed speech where Mitchell announces that only heterosexual white middle-class Protestant males can live honestly in America.

Emily Neve as the live-in girlfriend of Alex completes the four-member cast in a role that gives her fewer big moments until she becomes central to a late reversal. All four deliver monologues from time to time, and a highlight for Ms. Neve deals with her relationship with the mother she calls “Screecher.” Brooks uses spotlights and a bug-zapper sound effect to jump quickly between brief speeches by each character.

This is one of those SNAP! offerings that gives a straight reviewer doubts about his capacity for evaluating the authenticity of gay characterizations, but that’s little different than the issues we all face in encountering differences of race, ethnicity and social status. In any case, the two men shared believable kisses, and the brief flash of frontal male nudity isn’t likely to shock anyone accustomed to theater at the Shelterbelt or Blue Barn.

As for language, count me as one who hates those reviews that warn about four-letter words, and now find myself mentioning them. Suffice it to say that Connie Lee’s agent launches F words like missiles at any target in range.

There may be a small segment of the theater audience that’s comfortable with the exploration of social issues surrounding homosexuality and yet shrinks from the four-letter version of fornication. If so, they should stay home with the homophobes.

The Little Dog Laughed runs May 29-June 22 at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 6 p.m. Sundays at the SNAP/Shelterbelt Theatre, 3225 California St. Tickets are $15, $12 students and seniors. For more information call 341.2757.
13 Jun 2008

Theater Review: 'The Little Dog Laughed' a funny adult comedy at SNAP!

Loyal Fairman - Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil

06/05/2008

This SNAP! Production of "The Little Dog Laughed" features adult humor with great performances by talented ensemble. Director Todd Brooks has assembled a very good and experienced cast for this unique look at show business.

Connie Lee is Diane; her character is a traditional agent with a great desire to make money off of her client. She is a likeable character with a strong will and a very funny look at life. Her stinging monologues are priceless.

Jim Palmer plays Mitchell, her client. He is gay, but is keeping it a secret, since it might destroy his acting career. He is very funny in the role. His need to get some personal satisfaction brings him to calling a prostitute, Alex, played by Michael Juarez. Alex is a young man who doesn't understand what Mitchell is looking for. He is used to dealing with men who want one thing and that is just sex. Mitchell is looking for more.

Emily Neve is Ellen; she is Alex's girlfriend and is also looking to find men with money to help support her. Her scruples are less than honorable. She cares for Alex, but realizes that he is looking for something other than a female and male relationship.

This show has some very poignant moments as Mitchell looks to find love. It has many hilarious moments as these four people attack life. There is a brief moment of nudity. This show is not for children, the language and theme of the play is very adult.

It is really enjoyable to watch these four actors perform on stage. The supporting technical production people have done a first rate job on this show.

Todd Brooks has also designed the set, which is a functional bedroom with the central feature a bed with surrounding ramps to allow for a good acting area. Dave Podendorf's sound design and Ernie Gubbels' light design are both very good. Brian Callaghan is stage manager. The costumes are by Nancy Ross and props by Rhonda Hall. The show's running time is two hours.

"The Little Dog Laughed" by Douglas Carter Beane is at the SNAP!/Shelterbelt Theatre at 33rd and California streets in Omaha through June 22. Tickets can be purchased at the box office by calling (402) 341-2757. For more information go online to snapproductions.com.

Closet Case

‘The Little Dog Laughed’ at SNAP!

By: David Williams
Issue: Wii Will Rock You-Omaha City Weekly

05 Jun
2008

“They had the truth but they were looking for something else.” This quote from the director’s notes is perhaps the perfect thought to keep in mind when watching “The Little Dog Laughed,” the rip-roaring comedy staged by SNAP! Productions at the Shelterbelt Theatre.

Mitchell (Jim Palmer), a handsome star of stage and screen, has the truth but chooses to live a miserably closeted life to protect his boy-next-door box office appeal. He resorts to the services of midnight cowboy, Alex (Michael Juarez), a boy-toy who chooses to believe that he is strictly straight and that the hustler trade is just easy money. The incomparable Connie Lee plays Mitchell’s acid-tongued agent, who chooses to manipulate her only friend as she claws her way to the top. And Emily Neve is Alex’s soon-to-be abandoned girlfriend, who faces perhaps the most difficult choice of all.

Mitchell and Alex end up (surprise!) falling for each other, leaving the women in their lives – one acerbically snotty and the other snottily acerbic, feeling rather lonely and left out.
It’s fun to see Neve, the erstwhile songstress, display her considerable talents in a broader role. Palmer is fabulous in his return to the stage after a lengthy absence. And at the tender age of 20, Juarez climbs the ladder of young actors this writer hopes to see again soon and often.

But this show really belongs to the dazzling Lee, the Omaha Community Playhouse favorite seen there most recently in “Same Time Next Year.” A consummate professional with a great knack for comedy, Lee’s antics short-circuited the laugh-o-meter in the tiny Shelterbelt Theatre.

Uber-talented director, actor, music director and playwright Todd Brooks uses every square inch of the house to suggest that the action taking place on the periphery is set in a wholly other world. This is no small task when one considers that using “the periphery” at the miniature Shelterbelt is probably achieved through stage directions like “move downstage three inches, please.”

But even the best of directors are not immune to the occasional, if gentle, wag of the finger. Am I the only one peeved by the repeated use of the “Colombo” exit? You know the drill. Picture a hand on a doorknob. The hand’s owner, you surmise, is about to make his exit. Instead, both hand and remainder are inextricably drawn back into the scene for one of those dramatic “just one more thing” moments. Once is fine, I suppose. But three times over the course of an evening? Ugh!

And playwright Beane is something of an enigma to this reviewer. The oh-so witty characters populating his Gotham-based sex-in-the-city tale threaten to devolve into caricatures. Laughs inexplicably bounce between the humungous (Lee delivers the lion’s share of these) and the groan producing. And just when, pray tell, does the clever cross the line into the cloying? More than a little conflicted, I was reminded of the classic Monty Python skit set at a smarty-pants soir»e where all try to “out-Wilde” Oscar Wilde in bon mot banter. The results, in both skit and play, are rather predictable.

The overall result may be thoroughly enjoyable, but Beane, at times, tries too hard. It’s almost as if he had the truth and went looking for something else.



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			Press Materials Reviews/Previews Production Photos Main Page
			May 29 - June 22, 2008. May 29 will be a TAG Night Out Scholarship Fundraiser. Curtain Times: Thurs., Fri., Sat: 8pm Sun.: 6pm. June 22nd show: 2pm Cast Members: Diane—Connie Lee Mitchell— Jim Palmer Alex—Michael Juarez Ellen.—Emily Neve Production Staff: Director—Todd Brooks Stage Manager—Brian Callaghan Producer— Liz Heim Set Design—Todd Brooks Sound Design—Dave Podendorf Light Design—Ernie Gubbels Costumes—Nancy Ross Properties—Rhonda Hall Sound Operator—Brian Callaghan Light Operator—Dan Baye Box Office—Liz Heim Publicity—Todd Brooks Advertising Design—Mark Cramer SNAP! Productions to mount the Regional Premiere of The Little Dog Laughed. SNAP! Productions is very proud to present the Regional premiere of The Little Dog Laughed, by Douglas Carter Beane. Few can match Beane when it comes to writing hilarious material spoofing the inside workings of show business and the arts. Not since the dish ran away with the spoon, have so many mismatches been so cleverly aligned – and realigned – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This comedy gives us a satirical look at the movie industry when you deviate from the mainstream. If your mother told you never to laugh at someone else’s expense, she never saw The Little Dog Laughed.This naughty send-up of show biz morality is proof positive that laughter is the best revenge. A fast-paced and hilarious look at the world of celebrity, The Little Dog Laughed tells the story of a hot Hollywood actor who may be about to win the role of the century, if he can keep his sexuality under wraps. Add to the equation a rent-boy looking for love, his “girlfriend” looking for a home, and a scheming talent agent out to make the deal of a lifetime, this outrageous and poignant comedy is the perfect way to spend an evening out. “Devastatingly funny, with dizzy, irresistible writing that brings down the house! Theatergoers have cause to rejoice!” - New York Times
	Reviews/Previews
	Review: Script, actors align to turn 'Little Dog' into a big smash BY BOB FISCHBACH WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Published Thursday June 5, 2008 If you're lucky enough to snag a seat in Omaha's tiniest performance venue for SNAP Productions' season-capping show, you're in for one of the highlights of the nearly complete theater year. "The Little Dog Laughed," about a gay movie star whose sexuality secret threatens his exploding career, is easily one of the season's best comedies. And Connie Lee gives her own star turn as the actor's cynical and aggressive agent, trying to steer him away from professional suicide over a young hustler he's become involved with. With gimlet-eyed glee, Lee plays Diane as a singularly focused, sharp-clawed monster right from the opening scene. It's a juicy, tone-setting monologue in which she describes being her client Mitchell's date at an award ceremony. (She talked him out of bringing his mother, which she regards as a dead giveaway for Mitch.) In response to winning the award, Mitch gets smashed and calls an escort service, bringing young Alex to his door. Against all odds, an emotional spark gradually turns to flame between normally cautious Mitch and jaded Alex, who has a girlfriend, Ellen. The show distinguishes itself in several ways, starting with a sparkling, Tony-nominated script by Douglas Carter Beane ("To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar"). Beane manages to be both insightful about a social issue and outrageously funny while also sculpting four engrossing characters and lampooning the film industry. The night overflows with one-line zingers but also with terrific character-defining speeches. Emily Neve, as Ellen, delivers a great multilingual phone conversation with Alex's landlord about the overdue rent as she wonders where Alex has disappeared to. Jim Palmer, spot on as nice guy Mitch, punches through the frustration of decades to declare he wants a life and not just a career. Anxious Alex insists "I can't be gay" in an argument with himself he soon loses. Simultaneously, Michael Juarez, as Alex, subtly wins over his audience in what might easily be an unsympathetic role. Ernie Gubbels' clever lighting design rapidly shifts among multiple playing areas, as if paparazzi flashbulbs were going off between vignettes, and a crackling comedic rhythm takes hold. Director Todd Brooks' staging, pacing and attractive set design, in which a bed is the appropriate centerpiece, are all selling points for the show. But as good as her co-stars are, particularly Palmer, the night largely belongs to Lee. Watching her negotiate, over lunch or by phone, with a temperamental gay playwright for film treatment is a tutorial in comedic acting. Hair-trigger timing, plus the way she punches up a line with a combination of inflection and carefully calibrated movement, makes this a performance worth savoring more than once. The subject matter, plus a flash of nudity, clearly defines this as adult fare. Lil’ Dog Laughed, So Does Audience As Connie Shines by Warren Francke Omaha Weekly Reader - 13 Jun 2008 The Little Dog Laughed is easily the funniest play I’ve seen this season, and that’s saying a lot at the end of May. But that’s still not the most significant fact about the Douglas Carter Beane comedy. The SNAP! Production directed by Todd Brooks at the Shelterbelt gives Connie Lee a chance to shine in a role that guarantees more honors coming her way. She’s Diane, the agent who represents actor Mitchell Green (Jim Palmer), a gay man whose career and hers hinge on keeping him in the closet. From her hilarious opening monologue to a closing speech that completes the nursery rhyme title (“to see such sport and the dish ran away with the spoon”), Lee is simply delicious despite her character’s crass Hollywood pragmatism. No review can capture her delivery, but imagine the quintessential Connie bursting into a room, catching her movie star and a young man (Michael Juarez) with their pants down and complaining, “Puh-leeze!” Or preparing Mitchell to face the press and barking, “For me, butch it up, Mary.” Or declaring, “All gay men hate women unless they’re in a black and white movie and suffering majestically.” If you’ve only seen Ms. Lee in such serious roles as Regina in Lillian Hellman’s Little Foxes, don’t fail to catch this facet of her wide-ranging talent. Having said all that doesn’t mean the rest of the cast can’t carry a significant swath of the story. Palmer and Juarez deal convincingly with the relationship dance that’s required when two men hesitate to face their sexuality with candor. Their first encounter finds Palmer’s Mitchell drunk, only vaguely aware that he has summoned a male prostitute, Juarez as Alex. The latter explains that he’s “not a sex with guys kind of person,” and “I’m not queer, I have a girl friend.” At a later sleepover, he finds that he’s fond of hearing Mitchell snore, and exclaims, “I’m gay as a goose.” Credit director Brooks and Palmer for fashioning a low-key style that underlines Mitchell’s quiet yearning for a more honest life. Playwright Beane handles the coming-out issue effectively with the exception of a heavy-handed speech where Mitchell announces that only heterosexual white middle-class Protestant males can live honestly in America. Emily Neve as the live-in girlfriend of Alex completes the four-member cast in a role that gives her fewer big moments until she becomes central to a late reversal. All four deliver monologues from time to time, and a highlight for Ms. Neve deals with her relationship with the mother she calls “Screecher.” Brooks uses spotlights and a bug-zapper sound effect to jump quickly between brief speeches by each character. This is one of those SNAP! offerings that gives a straight reviewer doubts about his capacity for evaluating the authenticity of gay characterizations, but that’s little different than the issues we all face in encountering differences of race, ethnicity and social status. In any case, the two men shared believable kisses, and the brief flash of frontal male nudity isn’t likely to shock anyone accustomed to theater at the Shelterbelt or Blue Barn. As for language, count me as one who hates those reviews that warn about four-letter words, and now find myself mentioning them. Suffice it to say that Connie Lee’s agent launches F words like missiles at any target in range. There may be a small segment of the theater audience that’s comfortable with the exploration of social issues surrounding homosexuality and yet shrinks from the four-letter version of fornication. If so, they should stay home with the homophobes. The Little Dog Laughed runs May 29-June 22 at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 6 p.m. Sundays at the SNAP/Shelterbelt Theatre, 3225 California St. Tickets are $15, $12 students and seniors. For more information call 341.2757. 13 Jun 2008 Theater Review: 'The Little Dog Laughed' a funny adult comedy at SNAP! Loyal Fairman - Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil 06/05/2008 This SNAP! Production of "The Little Dog Laughed" features adult humor with great performances by talented ensemble. Director Todd Brooks has assembled a very good and experienced cast for this unique look at show business. Connie Lee is Diane; her character is a traditional agent with a great desire to make money off of her client. She is a likeable character with a strong will and a very funny look at life. Her stinging monologues are priceless. Jim Palmer plays Mitchell, her client. He is gay, but is keeping it a secret, since it might destroy his acting career. He is very funny in the role. His need to get some personal satisfaction brings him to calling a prostitute, Alex, played by Michael Juarez. Alex is a young man who doesn't understand what Mitchell is looking for. He is used to dealing with men who want one thing and that is just sex. Mitchell is looking for more. Emily Neve is Ellen; she is Alex's girlfriend and is also looking to find men with money to help support her. Her scruples are less than honorable. She cares for Alex, but realizes that he is looking for something other than a female and male relationship. This show has some very poignant moments as Mitchell looks to find love. It has many hilarious moments as these four people attack life. There is a brief moment of nudity. This show is not for children, the language and theme of the play is very adult. It is really enjoyable to watch these four actors perform on stage. The supporting technical production people have done a first rate job on this show. Todd Brooks has also designed the set, which is a functional bedroom with the central feature a bed with surrounding ramps to allow for a good acting area. Dave Podendorf's sound design and Ernie Gubbels' light design are both very good. Brian Callaghan is stage manager. The costumes are by Nancy Ross and props by Rhonda Hall. The show's running time is two hours. "The Little Dog Laughed" by Douglas Carter Beane is at the SNAP!/Shelterbelt Theatre at 33rd and California streets in Omaha through June 22. Tickets can be purchased at the box office by calling (402) 341-2757. For more information go online to snapproductions.com. Closet Case ‘The Little Dog Laughed’ at SNAP! By: David Williams Issue: Wii Will Rock You-Omaha City Weekly 05 Jun 2008 “They had the truth but they were looking for something else.” This quote from the director’s notes is perhaps the perfect thought to keep in mind when watching “The Little Dog Laughed,” the rip-roaring comedy staged by SNAP! Productions at the Shelterbelt Theatre. Mitchell (Jim Palmer), a handsome star of stage and screen, has the truth but chooses to live a miserably closeted life to protect his boy-next-door box office appeal. He resorts to the services of midnight cowboy, Alex (Michael Juarez), a boy-toy who chooses to believe that he is strictly straight and that the hustler trade is just easy money. The incomparable Connie Lee plays Mitchell’s acid-tongued agent, who chooses to manipulate her only friend as she claws her way to the top. And Emily Neve is Alex’s soon-to-be abandoned girlfriend, who faces perhaps the most difficult choice of all. Mitchell and Alex end up (surprise!) falling for each other, leaving the women in their lives – one acerbically snotty and the other snottily acerbic, feeling rather lonely and left out. It’s fun to see Neve, the erstwhile songstress, display her considerable talents in a broader role. Palmer is fabulous in his return to the stage after a lengthy absence. And at the tender age of 20, Juarez climbs the ladder of young actors this writer hopes to see again soon and often. But this show really belongs to the dazzling Lee, the Omaha Community Playhouse favorite seen there most recently in “Same Time Next Year.” A consummate professional with a great knack for comedy, Lee’s antics short-circuited the laugh-o-meter in the tiny Shelterbelt Theatre. Uber-talented director, actor, music director and playwright Todd Brooks uses every square inch of the house to suggest that the action taking place on the periphery is set in a wholly other world. This is no small task when one considers that using “the periphery” at the miniature Shelterbelt is probably achieved through stage directions like “move downstage three inches, please.” But even the best of directors are not immune to the occasional, if gentle, wag of the finger. Am I the only one peeved by the repeated use of the “Colombo” exit? You know the drill. Picture a hand on a doorknob. The hand’s owner, you surmise, is about to make his exit. Instead, both hand and remainder are inextricably drawn back into the scene for one of those dramatic “just one more thing” moments. Once is fine, I suppose. But three times over the course of an evening? Ugh! And playwright Beane is something of an enigma to this reviewer. The oh-so witty characters populating his Gotham-based sex-in-the-city tale threaten to devolve into caricatures. Laughs inexplicably bounce between the humungous (Lee delivers the lion’s share of these) and the groan producing. And just when, pray tell, does the clever cross the line into the cloying? More than a little conflicted, I was reminded of the classic Monty Python skit set at a smarty-pants soir»e where all try to “out-Wilde” Oscar Wilde in bon mot banter. The results, in both skit and play, are rather predictable. The overall result may be thoroughly enjoyable, but Beane, at times, tries too hard. It’s almost as if he had the truth and went looking for something else.