Of all of Neil Haven’s work, the hotel comedy Stuck is probably the most . . . mature, I guess. The comic playwright behind the ever-popular Who Killed Santa? develops a fun little premise as a retro hotel plays host to an agoraphobic elevator operator who never leave the elevator but to shower and use the women’s room.
Having seen a couple of different productions of the show, I don’t remember that much about the rest of the characters circulating around the romantic comedy’s plot, but I really don’t have to. As forgettable as the rest of the story and much of its humor are, the real reason to go and see this show as that of agoraphobic Ella herself. It’s weirdI remember an In Tandem production with a stellar cast…one of the best comic ensembles I remember in the past few years . . . but I don’t actually remember much about the show beyond Ella . . . and that’s not really a bad thing as the character ends up being one of the more memorable I’ve ever seen placed onstage. Haven imbues her with a sparkling charm that I’d seen picked-up by a couple of different actresses in a couple of different productions.
Yet another actress picks-up the elevator operator’s cap as Haven’s Stuck gets another staging next monththis one a little further out than the other two productions I’d seen, both of which took the stage of the Tenth Street Theatre. This coming Feburuary, the Lake Country Players stage their production of Stuck. The cast features Betsy Bromley as Ella. Not familiar with her or much of the rest of the cast. Locally-based actor Ryan H. Nelson plays the male lead, who is caught in kind of a weird romantic position between a few different women. The real reason to see this show is Ella. And one can hope that this Bromley actor should be able to make the character sparkle the way a couple of other actresses have before.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
The Lake Country Playhouse’s production of Stuck runs February 10th – 26th at 221 East Capitol Drive in Hartland. For ticket reservations, call 262-367-4697 or visit the Lake Country Playhouse Online.
