I can see it now. Dana Vermette, Matt Chiorini and Matt Thompson are sitting over a few brews. "Hey, let's write a comedy murder-mystery about a shoe salesman." As the beers are consumed, the ideas flow, and If the Shoe Fits is born. It opened on April 2, 2004 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
I have no idea how this amusement began. I do know that these three were not happy with just one style of humor. If the Shoe Fits combines farce, satire, broadness, silliness, one-liners and just about every other form of hilarity. It's just fun. The Coronado Playhouse production is the West-Coast premiere.
A master shoe salesman, a man in love with his calling, a man who can tell everything about a person by the shoes he wears, falls in love with a totally ditzy, but clever, wife of an ice-cream taster. The two lovers plan to do away with the husband and live happily ever after.
Not so surprisingly, things do not go as smoothly as planned. The husband is in and out at unscheduled times. The maid brings in loads of laundry, dusts and is generally in the way. She further confounds us with a romantic attachment to both husband and lover.
Director Matt Thompson has cast with his eye for both type and talent. Brian Mackey, as shoe salesman George, is tall and lanky, giving the appearance of a wallflower. Nicole Brokow, as his lover, Delores, is also tall and thin. In an embrace, they merge completely. Eddie Vandiver, as husband Marvin, appears to be the opposite of Mackey, a big man who easily dominates a scene. Faeren Adams plays maid Esperanza, spicing many of her lines with Spanish. George attempts to speak to Esperanza in Spanish but ends up with "Where is the pencil sharpener?"
Marvin loves to perform really bad humorous bits requiring explanations. Delores and Marvin talk in childish cliches countering the hot, passionate embraces between Delores and George. Marvin's wine glass is laced with a deadly poison. Then, of course, the glass switching begins. Other means of killing him are devised, mostly met with failure. Eventually, there is the traditional hiding of the body. It may sound trite, but this is quite clever and, combined with the maid's antics, plays well.
The cast appear to be having fun with their parts. Mackey's George's romance with shoes is close to obscene. As the plot thickens, Delores' true nature comes up, giving killer George second thoughts.
Brokow is totally convincing as the wife/lover who has a change of heart. Vandiver is the perfect candidate for death. His character easily grates on even the most insensitive. The second-act tension could be cut with a knife if we weren't laughing so much.
Rosemary King's attractive set is dressed nicely by Daniel Logan, Patty Fay and Mary Anderson. Jane Russell's costumes work well for each of the characters. The set is cleanly lighted by Dale Goodman. Matt Warburton's musical selections bring back fond memories.
While cliche-ridden, If the Shoe Fits is just plain fun. The cast perform with panache, their characters revealing their true natures. This is a fun-filled, silly evening with just the right amount of plot twists to keep you wondering what comes next.
