WANGLE DANGLE

             wangle (verb): manage to obtain (something) by persuading or cleverly manipulating
someone
dangle (verb): hang or swing loosely

                                     That’s quite the shitshow!
the very much alive Izzy St. Claire

I love a good screwball comedy. They were very popular from the ’30s to the beginning of the ’50s. The real masters of this laugh-out-loud genre were the Marx Brothers, the well-known Groucho, Chico and Harpo, the remaining two, Zeppo and Gummo, made infrequent appearances. In the 1935 film, A Night at the Opera, there’s the famous stateroom scene, where a lot, I mean a lot, of people squeeze into a tiny cabin room. From the top bunk bed to the floor, is stacked with people. Finally, an unwitting room service opens the door and everybody and everything falls out. Today, that still makes me laugh. There is no cabin in Wangle Dangle, however, there is a gorgeous waterfront home and the so familiar stunt of people chasing others around the room, or rooms, that never gets old.

The confusion begins with the news of English rock-n-roll singer/guitarist Izzy St. Claire (Benjamin Rawls gives one hell of a classy performance) is declared dead from a horrible plane crash. Roscoe (Brandon Delsid) gives the tragic news to his friend/client and Izzy’s ex-wife Jessica St. Claire (Lauren Lebeouf makes this character vividly comical.) Roscoe is unsuccessfully trying to prep Jessica on what to say to TMZ when they arrive for a comment on Izzy’s “death”. All she wants to talk about is the love between the two combative forces.

She says, ‘what’s love without a few fireworks.” She clearly has amnesia, but Roscoe reminds the lovelorn Jessica about: the blown-up fights that led to Jessica’s polished red, fingernail imbedded deeply into Izzy’s neck along with some scratches; the time she set his jaguar on fire; tossing out his clothes over the balcony and blames it on singer Stevie Nicks. Yes, Jessica had a gun, but it fell out of her purse and misfired. No one was ever arrested. Interesting!

Relator Chloë and husband Greg (Claire Voillequé and Josh Hillinger) go to comfort Jessica. Everyone’s feels bad about their loss, but Jessica is holding up very well. She said it bothers her how “the public thinks she’s an angry shrew.” This woman has got more issue than Cosmopolitan magazine! Izzy stopped paying spousal support so now she must sell her home. As good friends, Chloë and Greg spend the night. Izzy, dressed in classic rock-n-roll garb, dark and tight skinny jeans, open print shirt with a bullet on a gold chain, white headband with a black design print, one sock and one snakeskin boot, covered with different tats, comes out of nowhere and lands at Jessica’s house. Greg drops some very expensive champagne flutes and lets Izzy in. He tells Greg, who admires Izzy’s lifestyle, that he needs to lie low. He quickly scans the bar and cops a bottle of Jack Daniels and downs it like water. He confesses to Greg that he wants people to think that he died on that plane crash. He had a dream, in a mushroom haze the late singer Michael Jackson advised how he sold two million records after he passed on.

Izzy is trying to cash in also. He packs some things before hiding in the sailboat, the Wangle Dangle, also the title of Izzy’s last hit album. Greg has made it his mission to make Izzy look good to Jessica. He figures if she feels sorry over his death then she would be gloriously happy that he’s alive. Well, that’s the plan. However, the main ingredient in a screwball comedy is that nothing goes as planned, in the beginning. Greg is lousy at keeping secrets and soon tells Chloë what transpired. She becomes a part of this hidden fiasco. Soon after, the extremely handsome Florencio “Floro” Colón (Stephan Haci does an excellent job as the Latin heartthrob) comes in jogging à la Baywatch style. Looking like a runway model during New York Fashion Week, Floro comes in wearing a half button shirt, form fitting white shorts with white kicks and jogs toward his woman, Jessica. She clearly moved on with this tele-novela leading man. His family sells sailboats and he is referred to as “man of the wind.” The story moves quickly, that’s another rule screwball comedies abide by and the characters are sharp-witted, colorful and humorous beyond belief.

Written and directed by L.R. Ring, he has created a masterpiece of humor that should be studied. Not copy, because that’s like, illegal, but learn from the one who knows what the hell he’s talking about. The jokes and action are fast paced yet crafted beautifully with care and a watchful eye. Lebeouf and Rawls make a beautiful, messed up couple. It’s reminiscent of writer Dashiell Hammett’s popular husband and wife detective characters Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell & Myrna Loy) from The Thin Man series.

Izzy and Jessica shouldn’t reunite but it’s inevitable. Who else would put up with their irrational nonsense? Moriyahfaith Jackson scores as the ambitious TMZ reporter Heidi Hirsch. She doesn’t let a good story go away. When she and her skilled cameraman Billy (Jay Whitmore is great), sense there’s more to the story of Izzy St. Claire, he’s right by her side recording. Good man! Mariana Alaveira as Zoya and Ray Cecire as Bob Giffel are the glue that keeps the story going. Their roles are minor but make a huge impact on the others. Excellent all around and you will laugh your heart out!

DETAILS
WHAT: WANGLE DANGLE
WHERE: Hudson Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles
WHEN: Sat, Oct 05 – Sat, Oct 19, Thurs, Fri, Sat at 8 pm and Sun at 3 pm
WHY SEE IT: Love doesn’t always go so smoothly but the ride is definitely worth it.
RUN TIME: 85 minutes with no intermission
HOW MUCH:  $40 Thurs, Fri, Sat & Sunday (+ $3.75 Service Fee)
INFO: https://wangledangle.com/

#wangledangle,  #hudsontheatre