A-LISTS theatre
Costarring in the production are [Stephanie Fieger
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OF BOEING BOEING
SEATBELTS SECURELY FASTENED FOR FUN
ob Breckenidge portrays the leading character of Bernard in Boeing Boeing currently at The Old Globe through April 18. This revival of a French classic created in 1960 is Americanized for this latest incanta- tion and shows a few hours in a day in the life of one highly amorous man who happens to be juggling three fiancées at the same time.
Each woman is an airline stewardess and with the help of his maid, he manages to create a revolving door atmosphere where each woman is unaware of the others. Until…in this classic bedroom farce, time and scheduling goes haywire with hilarious results. Rob spoke with The Rage Monthly just three days before the first invited dress rehearsal for the production. Rob was last seen on Broadway in The 39 Steps, and he was aware of the successful Tony Award-winning comedy Boeing Boeing. “I did see it. Actually I got to know the cast in a circuitous kind of way. Our paths crossed and I was able to enjoy it on Broadway while I was there. Now that I’m here doing the show I’m very thrilled. It’s not bad working in paradise (laughter).” Boeing Boeing was adapted to a film of the same
RAGE monthly | APRIL 2010
ROB BRECKENRIDGE
by bill biss
name in 1965 starring Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis. The film and subsequent theatre productions are a time capsule of a more innocent sexuality of the early 1960s. Rob adds, “I’d have to agree with you. I will be honest and tell you that I’ve never seen the film. I’ve actually been coaxed away from seeing the film in terms of helping with the work that we’re doing. It was originally a play and from my understanding, the longest running…I think it ran for 20 years in France consecutively or some crazy thing. I think the joy of this story is that it takes us back to the early 1960s when technology was the breathtaking marvel. Planes were flying overhead and people were mov- ing from one side of the planet to another. It was a sexy world of fast-paced living. It wasn’t if I may say, the jaded society that we live in now where every five seconds there is a new gadget or technology. It’s sort of like…blah,blah, blah, we’re so used to it now of things flying at us.” Continuing, Rob says, “This [Boeing Boeing] harkens us back to that innocent time when the toys we were offered were magical! They were brand new. We were sending people into outer space, trying to get on the moon, technol- ogy advancing us in ways we’d never seen. I think what people respond to in this play is exactly what you touched on.
(Gabriella), Caralyn Kozlowski (Gretchen), and Liv Rooth (Gloria)] “The three actresses playing these characters number one are phenomenally gorgeous, incredibly talented, smart, funny and showstoppers. I’m in love with all of them. The remarkable thing about this production is that they grabbed a hold of a play that offers archetypes, kind of goddesses… these stewardesses that fall from the sky. They are drawn very boldly to represent the powers from above. My character has the fun of managing or shall I say, mismanaging the ill-fated concept of maintain- ing three simultaneous relationships in the form of engagements with three different fiancées. Men are always boys at heart and there is an innocent attempt on my part to handle such an exciting time. These are women on the verge, they have the powers of living their own lives. It was kind of a stated fact at that time that airhostesses were looking to get married. The one sort of weak link in my chain of events is that I don’t consider that the aftermath of an engagement is to get married. Whoops! You can tell a plan like that is only going to go so far.” Audiences can surely expect a fun time at Boeing
Boeing. Rob explains, “We have the monumental event of literally a few hours in a day…that’s the play. There’s no episodic shift. So you can tell all of your readers, they are off the hook! They don’t have to think. They don’t have to invest. The play is not going to ask anything of them except a willingness to have a good time. We see how this intersection of three women collides as a result of this ill-fated plan.”
BOEING BOEING
Now through April 18 The Old Globe Theatre Theoldglobe.org
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