STAGE REVIEW : Sparks Fly in Second Half of the Playhouse’s ‘The Butter and Egg Man’

LONG BEACH —  Long after the Kaufman-Hart partnership was over, Moss Hart wrote his valentine to Broadway in “Light Up the Sky.” George S. Kaufman wrote his long before the partnership began. It was “The Butter and Egg Man,” first produced in 1925.

In its current staging at the Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage, it often hits the Kaufman style, but not enough to make the old master look his best.

While Hart’s comedy dealt with the professional coming of age of a green playwright, Kaufman’s concerns a “butter and egg man,” a Broadway nickname for a wealthy out-of-town backer who can be suckered into investing in a show. Kaufman’s fresh young investor, Peter Jones, comes of age too, in more ways than one.

Having invested all of a small inheritance in a probable bomb produced by two Times Square wheeler-dealers, Jones decides to save the day after a disastrous opening on the road by borrowing enough money to buy the whole show and rework it. Along the way, he also wins the producers’ secretary. Kaufman’s rubes, like George M. Cohan’s, are smarter than they look.

Director Hugh Harrison knows his Kaufman and what makes the play tick. That’s obvious when the show finally lights up the sky in the second act, when Jones (Michael Gaffney), his girlfriend/secretary Jane (Sheri Shapiro) and their gullible new partner (Al Nowicki) take the stage.

Sparks fly, along with the laughs. When these three are on stage, Kaufman’s writing comes alive. Mary Tuck’s reading as the head producer’s ex-juggler wife is also a very funny Kaufman-esque turn.

But Murray Rubin and Art Frankel turn in low-energy performances as the Broadway producers. On opening night they stumbled over lines, and when they didn’t, their timing was sluggish, with little hint of the sharpness they should have. They never made the Kaufman trick work. As the leading lady of the production within the play, Donna Friia is little more than a cartoon, posing and strutting obnoxiously in a manner that would make any real leading lady roar.

The supporting cast is capable, even in a clumsily staged hotel room scene, but the sparkle and glow all belong to Gaffney, Shapiro, Nowicki and Tuck.

* “The Butter and Egg Man,” Long Beach Community Playhouse, 5021 East Anaheim St., Long Beach. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sunday matinees, July 11 & 18, 2 p.m. Ends Aug. 7. $12. (310) 494-1616. Running time: 2 hours.

Michael Gaffney Peter Jones

Sheri Shapiro Jane Weston

Mary Tuck Fanny Lehman

Murray Rubin Joe Lehman

Al Nowicki Oscar Fritchie

Art Frankel Jack McClure

Donna Friia Mary Martini

A Long Beach Playhouse production. Written by George S. Kaufman. Directed by Hugh Harrison. Lighting, Steven Jay Warner. Settings, Phil Lubman. Costumes, Ann Curry.