Manhattan Tribune
Performance: Unknown
24-Oct-92

Back in 1985, Bostonians got a chance to know many of the residents of the third smallest town in Texas in the hilarious two-man show "Greater Tuna." Now the stars and creators of that hit are returning to town with a new show that they have already perfected with four years on the road and several appearances at the White House, "A Tuna Christmas."

Performers Joe Sears and Jaston Williams along with director Ed Howard have concocted this twenty-four character comedy that requires Sears and Williams to do split second costume changes after ambling slowly off stage.

And what costume changes they are! Linda Fisher's outfits for the burly Joe Sears and the skinny Jaston Williams are real rib-ticklers themselves, especially since these two actors spend most of their time playing unattractive females. The astoundingly ugly footwear is a special delight.

The Christmas Eve storyline poses several questions. Will Vera Carp capture the holiday lawn display trophy for the fifteenth year in a row, or be struck by the mysterious Christmas Phantom who loves to play havoc with those yard dioramas? Will long suffering Bertha Bumiller be able to keep her whining brats in line, and, will her good-for-nothing husband show up for the holidays? Will the community theater production of "A Christmas Carol" go on, as scheduled, what with the Smut Snatchers committee censoring hymns and the local utilities company threatening to shut off the electricity because of overdue bills?

The first half of the evening introduces the characters and sets up the situations while the second half mingles more pathos with the humor, giving more resonance to the surface comedy of Act l. Among the more touching characters is Petey Fisk (Williams), the one-man Greater Tuna Humane Society, losing digits here and there as he valiantly attempts to care for all the exotic pets that residents have lost interest in.

It's remarkable how unflaggingly funny the dialogue is with the actors trading colorful Southern cliches like the description of an incompetent man as "he couldn't catch a cold in the Klondike." The subplots are unpredictable as you would expect from a hamlet where a dog that can spell is killed by a cat named Itty-Bitty.

Though the admiration for the lightning fast costume changes soon wears off, it's the affectionate portrayal of n petty small-town community that really makes this production a winner. "A Tuna Christmas" currently at the Shubert Theatre is one of those rare sequels that tops the original.