By Bob Fischbach
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Published Saturday
November 20, 2004
Most people know Ted Lange as the bartender on "The Love Boat," but he has written 14 plays and directed a lot of episodic television.
Lange's gifts as both playwright and director were on display Friday night at the John Beasley Theatre, along with those of four personality-plus actresses in Lange's "Four Queens - No Trump."
And four African-American queens they are, contrasting each other in body type, fashion sense, hair, personality - and taste in men.
Happily married Deola (Rusheaa Smith) hosts the weekly card game, dancing alone as she sets up the table and chairs, and cooking up a storm. Deola is a psychic dog groomer, so you can get your palm read when you drop your pet off.
Maude (Pasionetta Prince) is full of foul-mouthed sass. "I love a well-placed expletive in an otherwise ordinary sentence," she explains. She also loves jazz musicians.
Wealthy Jocenia (Makayla M. Wesley) is all attitude and shopping. "I am not high-maintenance," she insists. "I'm spoiled, and there IS a difference." But is her married life as happy as it appears?
Edna (TammyRa Jackson) is Deola's friend from college days, recently divorced and beginning to date again. A bit more reserved than the others, she still knows how to hold her ground. A horrible secret in her family's past plays a role in her future.
Across the card table or over scotch, we get to eavesdrop on what four middle-aged black women talk about when only their closest friends are listening.
And it is funny. Lange has a pretty good ear for dialogue, evidenced by the steady laughs from a crowd of about 60 at Friday's opener. Running jokes build the humor, such as Deola's habit of opening a door before someone knocks or heading to the phone before it rings.
"It's a gift," she reminds Edna.
"It's a curse, keep it to yourself," replies Edna.
The sex talk does get a little raunchy, and there's plenty of cussing, but also plenty of heart as the four women clash over cards, dish the dirt and listen when someone needs to sing the blues.
The appearance of a love interest, Jefferson (Jon Jefferies), seemed to deflate the comedic souffle late in the show, as pacing and timing slowed. Just two women's stories contained a full dramatic arc, while the lives of the other pair were unchanged at play's end.
Still, the crowd stood early at final curtain. A few insider jokes about Omaha law firms and personalities tailored the play to its audience.
Lange said he wrote "Four Queens" in 1997 and has enjoyed his three weeks rehearsing it in Omaha. Beasley hired him through a mutual friend.
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