Review: "The Scary" Builds a Stephen King Parody on the Fly
The Scary - Improvised Stephen King
Original concept by Nannette Deasy
Directed by Robert Baumgardner
Presented by IRTE at The Producers Club
358 W. 44th St., Manhattan, NYC
January 31-February 22, 2025
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L-R: Natalie Hunter and Evie Aronson. Photo: IRTE |
One doesn't have to be a connoisseur of King esoterica to thoroughly enjoy The Scary, though a passing familiarity with his (oft-adapted) work–which seems pretty likely for anyone who consumes media–probably helps some of the jokes land with more impact. The performance that we attended, which featured performers Tony Bozanich, Nannette Deasy, Natalie Hunter, Sam Katz, and Vikki Martin, began, following an ominous musical cue and a comically small amount of eerie smoke, by having the audience select, via different methods, the show's protagonist and antagonist–in this case, a Single Determined Mother and an Evil Clown–and its setting–in this case (what are the chances?) a small town in Maine. The story that would ultimately bring this hero, here named Gladys (Sam Katz), to her showdown with the villain (Natalie Hunter, channeling the mannerisms of Pennywise in a wig and hat combo that had a touch of Doctor Rockzo to it) started out with its characters in early adolescence–adding humor to, among other elements, Gladys's aspiration to be a mother–before jumping forward in time. Gladys was now, as she wanted to be, a mother, albeit a single one, to the neverending annoyance of her son (Nannette Deasy). As the clown went around trying to turn family members against one another–and worse–and it turned out that Gladys needed a performer for her son's birthday party, we were introduced to a stable of characters ranging from child Johnny (Tony Bozanich), whose father (Vikki Martin) wants him to be a boxer while Johnny prefers dance (or stand-up comedy, or dance-comedy); to uptight, quick with an insult churchgoer Beverly (Vikki Martin); to a Maine-accented librarian (Deasy) who has a hilariously fatal encounter with the killer clown.
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L-R: Evie Aronson, Natalie Hunter, Nannette Deasy, Sam Katz, Tony Bozanich, and Vikki Martin. Photo courtesy of IRTE |
-John R. Ziegler and Leah Richards
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