The Kids Left, The Dog Died, Now What?
The Kids Left, The Dog Died, Now What?
By Carole Caplan – Lonner
Directed and Choreographed by Roy Alan
Musical Direction by Chris Leavy
Winter Park Playhouse, Winter Park FL</strong>
Talk about playing to your demographic! This poignant and occasionally biting revue explores all those LL/FWP’s (Later Life First World Problems”: Where to take a cruise, what to do if your partner hates opera, and those awkward questions about sleeping arrangements while camping with the kids? There’s only an occasional wisp of a story but the theme comes through loud and clear – opportunities are fading, and it’s time to make some hard choices.
“Who Says Progress is Good?” reflects on the harsh march of technology – a remote control brings a household to its knees and I though “My grandmother never paid a bill with check, and my grandkids won’t either, but for exactly opposite reasons.” Frank Siano got all the good jokes, his running gag of “Doctors” suggests the aches and pains of elderhood but with the sort of bite that makes Jewish complaints an art form. Jeff Aames led “Sandwich Generation,” he’s retired, his parents need tax advice and the kids live in the basement and stare balefully when you refuse to pay off their credit cards with your meager 401k. The girls got as good as they gave, Amy Martin Cole wrenched pathos from “Firsts” and then teamed up with Lourelene Snedeker and draggy Mr. Aames for “Casserole Stroll:” A wife’s death weeps tragedy, but continent men are a hunt for the opportunistic. If you can’t see yourself in this show, you’re just not out of high school. I could warn you about the future but I didn’t listen either, so party on. But some sad day, that AARP letter will arrive with your name on it. We call that: “Singing the Blues”
For more information on Winter Park Playhouse, please visit http://www.winterparkplayhouse.org
