God’s Favorite is a brilliantly written comedy by Neil Simon. Directed by Craig Core, this show will make you laugh, cry and suffer along with main character Joe Benjamin and his family. Joe is the epitome of goodness and grace which explains why he happens to be God’s favorite. Things go downhill when God and Satan attempt to test his faith.
Wayman Price, playing Joe, as always put on fantastic show. He is a wonderful actor, and it is always a joy to watch him. When Joe is visited by Sidney Lipton, played by Todd Robinson, a messenger from the big man himself, you will find yourself in stitches laughing at their antics. Todd is always great to watch and if you ever see his name in the cast lineup, go make reservations. He always puts on such a different character, which is impressive and hard to find in community theatre. Joe’s main family issue is his drunk of a son David Benjamin, who is played by Jack Ryan Denny. Jack, for me, carried this show. He is quick to make something funny, and he is willing to use his body to do so. This man is not afraid to use everything he can to make this a great show.
This show’s set could have used a little more TLC. This set was described in dialogue as being magnificent with priceless artifacts. It just didn’t live up to its description. It was supposed to be the home of a rich man. His home is supposed to have priceless artifacts, jewels and nice paintings around, and it just looked like an average family home, not the residence of a millionaire. The main facet of this show that I found exasperating was the long set change that took the house from its former glory to burnt out. It took over a minute and you could see everything that was happening by stage hands. I feel that this was a missed opportunity to use some creativity and originality. Perhaps if the stage hands were dressed up to look like demons and some dramatic music was played to set the mood, this set change would have added to the show instead of taking away.
Overall, this show was very funny, engaging and a delight to watch as the drama unfolded. Murfreesboro Little Theatre always seems to do shows that will bring in different audiences, and they are not afraid to push things a little further than the show before. MLT has two shows left in this season’s lineup, and then, it’s on to their 50th season. For more information on upcoming events, visit mltarts.com or Like “Murfreesboro Little Theatre” on Facebook for updates and events.
