Don't Hug Me I'm Pregnant Reviewed by Jeanne Hartman for Riveting Riffs Magazine

Don't Hug Me Is Back and This Time She Is With Child

Reviewed by Jeanne Hartman

Dont Hug Me Im Pregnant photo 1

If you like silly lyrics to musical songs, buffoon characters and yet a good-hearted ending to a song and dance story then Don’t Hug Me I’m Pregnant at the Secret Rose Theatre in the NoHo district of Los Angeles might be your choice for a night out. DHM Productions and Angry Amish Productions present the latest in the Don’t Hug Me series of plays by Phil Olson with music by Paul Olson.

Do the jokes, the comic strip characterizations, and the silly lyrics command praise? We cannot say that they do. However, the good-natured atmosphere of the whole show helps to balance out the forced acting choices and the insipid references to current events. The audience on the night that this reviewer attended seemed to relate strongly to the most ludicrous lines, so Groucho Marx must have been correct when he said, “Humor is reason gone mad.”

Although the story takes place in a “man cave” in Bunyan Bay, Minnesota, the overdone Minnesota accents used by some of the actors seem to take away from the believability of the characters. At first it is more like a Saturday Night Live skit, but into the second act the performers find their way and the accents seem to become more just part of their characters. Yes, we all know that there are quirky characters in every town, big or small. These people however, seemed to be plucked out of a comic book rather than a small town in the Midwest, although I have been told these characters do exist in droves at local bars across the country!

Perhaps the director did not trust the humor of the script or the actors were told to “push it” in the first act. Neither was necessary. Although the script is certainly not to be ranked in categories of Mark Twain to Garrison Keillor, it does have a certain appeal. The playwright obviously enjoys these characters. Why would he continue to write them in a series of plays? Even the craziest person in our lives has some allure. At times it felt more like the Kanute show rather than the intended story. Bert Emmett as Kanute was certainly given a free rein with this character and for the most part he was able to navigate from mugging unmercifully to stepping back and allowing other characters to have the spotlight.

In this story, husband, Gunner (Patrick Foley) is not a talker and he even has difficulty with voicing the word love to his very, very, very pregnant wife, Clara (Rebekah Dunn). Sidekick, Kanute is far beyond your crazy Uncle Charlie that you have to sit next to at Thanksgiving. The best friend, Bernice (Natalie Lander) and her boyfriend, Aarvid (Greg Barnett) make up the rest of the ensemble. Where else would the story go when a snowstorm appears and a very pregnant woman is inside with some unprepared family and friends? Need I go on?

This Don’t Hug Me franchise certainly knows how to market plays. The ads in the playbill are humorous and ingenious, from Kanute’s Ice Hole Augers to Bunyan Bay High School, Home of the Fighting Crappies. I especially loved the Camp Wampum ad which states, “Send your child to camp next summer. It’s cheaper than a baby sitter (only three lost last year). Even the map of Bunyan Bay is filled with pithy quotes such as from Swenson’s Piggly Wiggly “Where the meat isn’t green”. The set also supports this franchise with the entire room surrounded by various empty beer bottles (Who had the pleasure of downing this huge amount of beer?)

If only the director and playwright would trust what is smart about this style and work on improving the justification for each musical selection. It seems like everyone just stops the story for a cute song and dance number. Yes, the lyrics refer to something the character has just said but in the best musicals the songs heighten the emotion and there is always justification for singing it instead of just saying it.

The moments in the second act where the characters are allowed to relax into their characters instead of “performing” heighten this piece to not just skit level, but an actual play with a story. The fun, humor and musical novelty lyrics show the strength of the playwright. Allowing the characters to have more human, natural moments would not hurt the humor and fun, but it would only help the dramatis personae to become more three-dimensional.

Don’t Hug Me I’m Pregnant plays through November 29, 2011, at Secret Rose Theatre in the No Ho Arts District in North Hollywood, California. Reservations: (323) 822-7898 or go to DontHugMe.com.

Contributing writer JEANNE HARTMAN, the Actors Detective, coaches professional actors in Los Angeles and teaches actors, directors and writers in Hong Kong. She can be contacted at www.JeanneHartmanActorsDetective.com.

Her book, The Right Questions for Actors, is written in an inter-active book style that supports actors. Veteran actors call it their “new Bible” when it comes to preparing for auditions. It is available at her website and on Amazon.

Her studies at the Juilliard School, and with Lawrence Parke, Barbara Loden, Mark Travis and training at Centre Lyrique Int’l with Lotfi Mansouri add to Ms. Hartman’s ability to discover which technique is best for each student. Ms. Hartman’s acting experience on stage across the country, and in front of the camera, prepared her to become a respected acting coach and teacher in demand by actors, directors, writers, agents, managers and producers.