By PHILIP M. VAN DIJK
philip@du2.byu.edu
The Salt Lake City Pioneer Theatre Company is performing the comedy 'The Front Page' through April 14.
The play is set in the Press Room of the Criminal Courts Building in Chicago during the 1920s. It opens with the star reporter of a local newspaper, Hildy Johnson, announcing to his newspaper posse he is quitting the newspaper business for good, moving to New York with his fiance and working in the advertising business instead. Walter Burns (Ross Brickell), Johnson's editor, will stop at nothing to retain his prize reporter, and Johnson (Michael Lasswell) will stop at nothing to leave the newspaper business behind for good. And therein lies the game.
After Johnson tells Burns off, he leaves the office bound for New York City and a new life. As he is leaving, however, a criminal -- who is sentenced to be hung early the next morning -- shoots his way out of prison and sends the city into an uproar. Unable to pass up the story of a lifetime, Johnson decides to leave his fiancee and her mother waiting in the cab downstairs while he takes the story.
The highlight of the show is David Valenza's portrayal of Diamond Louis. The most unforgettable and hilarious character, Louis, is a mafia hitman trying to get a piece of the action. He is the Godfather personified, trying to fit in at the Chicago newsroom.
The Pioneer Theatre Company is the only fully professional theater between Denver and the West Coast. And it shows. The actors are polished and interact well. It is extremely hard to pull off a comedy with timing and rhythm, but this is one of the few that does just that. The actors are professional and quick.
At one point in the performance I went to, the Sheriff tripped over a phone line and fell flat on his face. It was not supposed to be part of the play. A complete accident. But you never would have known by the way the cast rallied around him and ad-libbed their way through the rest of the potentially awkward situation. That is what makes great actors great.
'The Front Page' was written by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht, who both met working as newspapermen in Chicago. Their keen understanding of the deadlines, editors, scoops and fabricated ethics of newspaper work makes for great scripting and believable situations.
'The Front Page' has been through three Broadway revivals and several film adaptations. It is being performed on Lees Main Stage at the University of Utah (300 S. 1400 East, Salt Lake City) through April 4. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. for Saturday matinees. It is performed with two 10 minute intermissions. It runs just under three hours. Ticket prices are $14-$32. Call 581-6961.