Carly Rae Jepsen Tops Song Of The Summer Contenders

THEATER REVIEW ‘Something Intangible' • When: 7:30 p.m.

BY JOHN BRANDENBURGSpectators are apt to be pleasantly surprised and greatly entertained by the fictionalized no-holds-barred approach to an animator based on Walt Disney and his brother, in a play at Carpenter Square Theatre. Bruce Graham's “Something Intangible,” set in Hollywood in 1941, was given a rousing and at times wacky but never out-of-control performance by a well-balanced six-member Carpenter Square cast. At its heart was the stark contrast between the self-centered and self-indulgent but artistically inspired animator brother, called Tony Wiston, and his dull, number-crunching, yet deeply human older sibling, Dale. Always controlled and conservatively dressed, Craig Pruitt made the very lack of imagination of the latter unexpectedly entertaining, like a straight man temporarily without a partner, forced to talk to his psychoanalyst instead. What emerged was a quietly moving portrait of a man who loves his family, and the sheer order of keeping books to avoid catastrophe, forever taken for granted by his brilliant younger brother. Ginger Gilmartin-Smith was equally low key and appealing as Sonia Feldman, the psychoanalyst in question, who yearns to be taken seriously as a real doctor in Hollywood, but admits to being a little star-struck herself. Indeed, some of Gilmartin-Smith's best moments came when she was placed on the defensive by Dale, after she took a consulting job on a psychology-based thriller, produced by another patient, David O. Selznick. Lighting up the other, non-dull side of the dramatic ledger book, whether he was wearing dashing formal or sports-leisure attire, was the bravura performance of Joe DiBello as the Disney-like, compulsively creative Tony Wiston. Determined not to be remembered only as the “father” of a world-famous cartoon dog (rather than mouse), DiBello got across Wiston's drive to be taken serious as an artist, and dubious dream of creating a Disneyland-like village. John Q. Wilson was outstanding as an ex-dentist, turned banker, who appreciates Tony's genius, and C. W. Bardsher won our empathy as a gay artist, enduring his boss' unreasonable demands and homophobic attitudes. Terry Veal was just “over-the-top” enough as a prima donna conductor, willing, for a price, to help Tony rise to highbrow from popular icon status, by leading the band in a “Fantasia”-like blend of music with animation. Running a little long for the twitchy seat test of the Philistine older brother, perhaps, but consistently entertaining and often riveting, the Carpenter Square production, brilliantly directed by Linda McDonald, is highly recommended. Other assets of the production, R-rated for language, included excellent costumes by Rhonda Clark and a two-way set by James Polk Wilson which suggested the early forties offices of Tony Wiston and Sonia Feldman. — John Brandenburg

BY GENE OWENS For The Oklahoman“Here's a great dangler that plays into all those old conceits about ‘if men had to bear babies,'” said Suzanne Barnhill, Swayback's maven of English grammar and usage.

“Greater Tuna” When: Opens Friday and continues through June 16; 7:30 p.m. Fridays, 1:30 and 7:30 p.m.

BY RICK ROGERS Fine Arts Editor rrogers@opubco.comThe Texas community known as Tuna may be sparsely populated, but what it lacks in numbers is more than made up for by the outlandish personalities who call this area home.