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The Starbucks of comedy
The similarities between the play and the juggernaut of Joe run far deeper than their mutual preoccupation with coffee. Both share a flare for ubiquity. Starbucks are multiplying so rapidly that jokes about Starbucks stores opening inside other Starbucks stores are already creepily unfunny. Triple Espresso has played all over North America as well as Europe and boasts a McDonalds like "1 million guests entertained." Even more fundamentally, people’s opinions of either the play or the coffee empire seem to fall into the same two camps. Both have their staunch defenders as well as their decided detractors who, incidentally, are both wrong. Neither Triple Espresso nor Starbucks deserve high praise or sharp criticism. Both simply are what they are. In the case of Triple Espresso, we have a play that heats up to a level of satisfactory comic percolation and then bubbles there calmly. It never reaches a boil, which is to say that it never peaks. It is not spectacularly amazing. It is simply good, which is a lot better than bad. And let’s face it; in a world where bad theatre is as commonplace as empty promises during an election year, an honestly good show is hard to come by. Bill Arnold (funny magician), Michael Pearce Donley (funny musician) and Bob Stromberg (generally funny guy) created Triple Espresso in 1995. Their semi-autobiographically inspired vaudevillian comedy revue disguised as a play tells the story of characters who, as you might imagine, are variously a funny magician, Buzz Maxwell (Patrick Albanese), a funny musician, Hugh Butternut (J.C. Cutler) and a generally funny guy, Bobby Bean (John Bush). Once a comedy trio but now defunct, Butternut, Bean and Maxwell meet at the Triple Espresso coffee house on the 25th anniversary of their supposed "big break." Through a stream of flashbacks, the men recount the formation, rise and demise of their ill-fated act. Bean performs an amusingly hokey sing-along in front of the freshmen class of 1975. Maxwell entertains a Kiwanis Club meeting with a set of deadpan magic tricks in the style of Harry Anderson (the guy from Night Court before he was on Night Court). And Butternut performs an inadvertently hilarious classical music piece for the Henry Mancini Cavalcade of Stars. Whether the three friends resolve their differences or decide to take one last stab at fame and fortune is utterly beside the point. The plot–more of a meta-plot, really–is just a framework from which to hang episodes of goofy magic, classic lounge singing (in the style of Bill Murray on Saturday Night Live back when it was still funny) and even shadow puppetry (one of the funniest bits in the show). To Triple Espresso’s credit, it also incorporates the proven comic strategy of involuntarily involving audience members. Don’t worry; it’s not like Gallagher. Butternut, Bean and Maxwell are gentle with the crowd. But you may suddenly find that the people next to you are Butternut’s parents. Or you might wind up on stage acting the straight man while assisting Maxwell with a card trick. Though some may find Triple Espresso a bit lukewarm, like Starbucks, I think it will appeal to an extremely broad demographic, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes one of Denver’s most popular shows of the summer season. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com Centerstage events for the week of 5/27/04
Boulder County Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Boulder’s Dinner Theatre, 5501 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-449-6000, through June 20. The DogRobber Revolt – A Theatre Thirteen production. Old Main Chapel, CU Campus, Boulder, 720-406-0184, through May 29. Denver metro Born to be Loud. Heritage Square Music Hall, 18301 W. Colfax Ave., Golden, 303-279-7800, through Sept. 12. Czar Reed and the Punk – The Westminster Spotlight Theater Company. College Hill Library, 3705 W. 112th Ave., Westminster, 303-668-7578, through June 20. Happy Birthday, Wanda June – A play by Kurt Vonnegut. Miners Alley Playhouse, 1224 Washington Ave., Golden, 303-935-3044, through July 17. House of Bernarda Alba. New Federal Theatre, 3830 Federal Blvd., Denver, 303-571-0901, through May 29. I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Garner Galleria Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 1245 Champa St., Denver, 303-893-4100, through June 30. Movin’ Out – Love Billy Joel’s music and his gift for ivory-enhanced storytelling? Movin’ Out is a musical that brings some of Joel’s most memorable characters to the stage. Featuring more than 20 of Joel’s most beloved songs, Movin’ Out follows five friends through two decades, exploring the themes of post-World War II idealism and the unrest of the Vietnam War. Buell Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 1245 Champa St., Denver, 303-893-4100, through June 6. Three Viewings: Explore the Other Side of Goodbye. Federal Theatre, 3830 Federal Blvd., Denver, 720-530-4596, through June 26. Triple Espresso. Ricketson Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 1245 Champa St., Denver, 303-893-4100, through Oct. 3. To have an event considered for the theater calendar, send information including address, dates, times, price and phone number to: Theater Calendar, 690 S. Lashley Lane, Boulder, 80305; fax to 303-494-2585; e-mail to editorial@boulderweekly.com.
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Triple Espresso, a play set in a coffee house, is to theatre what Starbucks, the Microsoft of coffee houses, is to an industry built upon legions of people with big, hairy, King Kong-sized caffeine monkeys on their backs. Life imitates art imitating life. Wacky.
