THEATER REVIEW : Met’s ‘Ellis Jump’ a Sharp Comic Romp

Jinx Baxter (Bruce Wright) spent 15 years in a Texas prison, but that looks like easy time compared to the problems he faces in “The Ellis Jump,” Jim McGrath’s funny and brilliantly entertaining comedy of redemption at the Met Theatre.

Baxter’s parole officer, the mocking good ol’ boy Cody Hicks (Barry Cullison), could show Mark Fuhrman a thing or two about intimidation and planting evidence. Worse, the ex-con has fallen in love with Hicks’ prim boss, Ruth (Julie White), and is being tempted to rob a bank with a lusty barfly named Wendy (Dawn Maxey).

The plot and setting may make for warmed-over Jim Thompson noir, but the quartet of vividly drawn characters, and the tightly written dialogue, give the piece a sharp comic edge. Even without an intermission, the show seems to fly by like an inmate on the lam.

Ron Orbach’s taut direction showcases killer performances from the cast, with Cullison both amusing and frightening as the corrupt officer and Maxey betraying a Bernadette Peters-like comic sensibility.

* “The Ellis Jump,” Met Theatre (downstairs space), 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Hollywood. Saturday through Monday, 8 p.m. Ends Nov. 13. $15. (213) 957-1152. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

‘Doll’s House’ Falls Flat at Noise Within

You feel mixed emotions after viewing “A Doll’s House,” the revival of Ibsen’s classic at A Noise Within in Glendale.

First you’re grateful that a competent classical theater has tackled this exceptionally difficult text, which still speaks powerfully on marriage and gender roles more than a century later. But you’re also disappointed that Ibsen’s provocative ideas fall a bit flat in director Mark Rucker’s muted staging.

Flittery and wavering, Jill Hill never quite finds the right focus as Nora, the archetypal bourgeois housewife suffocating in a bad marriage. As her shallow bank-manager husband Torvald, Robert Pescovitz shows early promise but soon succumbs to a one-note portrayal of misplaced rectitude. By the time Nora makes her climactic bid for independence--one of the most famous scenes in modern drama--the move seems more inevitable than unforgettable.

Some fine support comes from Mark Bramhall as the dying Dr. Rank and Anna C. Miller as Nora’s old friend Kristine. The raked set by Angela Balogh Calin is an impressive model of middle-class Scandinavian sterility.

* “A Doll’s House,” A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Wednesday, Thursday, Nov. 10, 18, 24, 30, Dec. 1, 7, 13, 16, 8 p.m.; Oct. 29, 7 p.m.; Nov. 11, 19, 25, Dec. 17, 2 p.m. Ends Dec. 17. $10-$28. (818) 546-1924. Running time: 3 hours, 5 minutes.

‘Really’ Undone by the Warm Fuzzies

It’s hard not to like “I Really Like You, But . . ., “ Josh Schiowitz’s new comedy at Celebration Theatre. Everyone in it is so earnest and caring, even when fighting and cheating.

But that warm, fuzzy feeling proves to be the play’s undoing. The characters and situations in this adult comedy are so mild that you almost long for a mustache-twirling villain to dash out from the wings. Something, anything, to give some kick to director Mary-Pat Green’s irrepressibly huggable staging.

The story revolves around Hy (J. David Krassner), a sweet, teddy-bearish gay man who runs a nightclub with his wisecracking pal Seymour (Ed Martin). Hy desperately wants a romantic relationship, but his affairs--with a sensitive hunk (Bernie Van de Yacht), a bisexual singer (Scott McCray) and a climbing entrepreneur (Mark Ciglar)--keep ending in frustration. Hy has trouble seeing that the key to his happiness is right under his nose.

Nice, isn’t it? Sure. So are the jokes, gentle swipes at Broadway musicals and psychics. The actors are persuasively nice too, with Krassner doing next-door-neighbor nice, Martin sarcastic-older-brother nice and . . . well, you get the picture.

You may really like this play, but you probably won’t respect--or even remember--it in the morning.

* “I Really Like You, But . . . ,” Celebration Theatre, 7051 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Monday through Wednesday, 8 p.m. Ends Nov. 1. $15. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.