Petesophizing...

I have to say – Mike Fischer’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel review of Naughty Angel makes me cringe. Look at his lede from September 30 -- ‘Angel’ falls flat despite naughtiness:

Nice guys don’t just finish last in baseball. They also tend to make boring protagonists. “Naughty Angel,” local dramatist Thomas Rosenthal’s latest play, unwittingly confirms this simple maxim. The Windfall Theatre Ensemble staged the world premiere on Friday night.

I’m betting Mike Fischer got “Nice guys … tend to make boring protagonists” from a how-to website. I guess HowToWritePlays.com didn’t mention Hamlet. (Also, consider: “unwittingly confirms this simple maxim.” Sheesh.)

All right. Naughty Angel is not "Angels In America" or "Look Homeward, Angel". It’s “premise heavy” and the premise plays out in the first act. There. I read a website, too.

But what Naughty Angel is – is funny. In all three acts – it’s FUNNY. It’s not “flat” in the least.

Writing is a lonely business made lonelier by the foreknowledge that nearly everyone -- family, friends, and oh yeah, reviewers – will work out their judgmental reflex on what THEY see as flaws. Their impulse usually requires ignoring the hundreds of decisions and inspirations the writer wagered successfully. I take issue with such a hatchet job, especially when it’s directed at a new play by a local playwright.

Fischer says Rosenthal’s dialogue is ‘dull’. I’m old school when it comes to accusations of “dull” and “boring”. The really clever people of this world never experience boredom. I found plenty of sequences where Rosenthal gave the actors just enough of a comically endowed situation for THEM to shine. And this ensemble cast, under the direction of Shawn Gulyas, got laughs. Each and every actor.

Angela Beyer's talent is clear to me, and I’ve noted it elsewhere. Though her role as temptress Lilly is small, Rosenthal gave her an opportunity for a large “contrast”, from sorority girl to she-devil.

Amy Kull always has some Kramer-like “kovorka” on stage. The audience Saturday night physically reacted to each entrance by Ryan Spiering as lovable mechanic (and “swordsman”), Zack. They expected to laugh, and did. So too, for Chad Tessmer playing Rick, a beer guzzling “reality instructor” who’s stuck in the same gear he was when he was your Freshman roommate in college. Funny.

Jason Powell as the leading “nice guy”, Jerry, could have used more ammunition from the playwright. But the audience was still with him at the play’s sentimental ending, after a solid two hours. An accomplishment for director, actor, and writer.

If overall Naughty Angel kicks more like a string of comic set-pieces than a theatrical “whole”, remember: in these melancholy, anxious times Will Ferrell gets millions of dollars for doing just that.

And before you thank reviewers like Mike Fischer for saving your precious time and your entertainment dollar, try a little experiment. Put down your Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and pick up a blank piece of paper. Now – using only twenty-six phonetic symbols and a few punctuation marks, set in motion a chain reaction that results in two hours of badly-needed laughs for a Milwaukee audience.

A daunting, mysterious, vulnerable endeavor, right?

Consider supporting this local playwright and these fine, local actors.

Naughty Angel plays again this weekend and next. Details here.