Breaking legs but not new ground

It's been said desperation can make strange bedfellows. In "Breaking Legs" a desperate college professor, looking for funding for his off-off-Broadway play, finds that his new bedfellows are actually goodfellas.

PHOTO COURTESY CHIP HOFFMAN FLORIDA REP The cast of "Breaking Legs" on stage now at the Florida Repertory Theatre. What follows is a series of misunderstandings as cultures collide and clash and Mafia hitmen suddenly have strong opinions on how he should rewrite his play.

The play, by Tom Dulack, opened on Broadway 16 years ago and then enjoyed a healthy national tour as well. Ten years ago, the Florida Repertory Theatre produced it as part of their opening season. This year, in celebration of their tenth anniversary, they revived it, a sweet, sentimental gesture.

A lot can happen in 16 years, and since "Breaking Legs" first opened, we've had Woody Allen's hysterical "Bullets Over Broadway," the "Analyze This" and "Analyze That" movies and of course, HBO's "The Sopranos." So as an audience, we've become accustomed to made men getting involved in show biz, whether it's theater or movies, and we've seen them whack a guy, then give heartfelt sympathies to the woman they've just made a widow.

Diana Buirski So Dulack's plot, through no fault of his own, isn't as fresh as it once was, even if it did predate all the abovementioned shows.

I admit, I came to this show with high expectations, hearing about how hysterical audiences found it, and about a woman who'd attended the original production doubling over with laughter and accidentally knocking herself out on the edge of the stage. But I didn't laugh as much as I hoped, and it paled, especially coming right on the heels of Florida Rep's terrifically funny production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."

Act I is slow, taking a long time to build up to its extremely funny climax, the funniest scene in the entire play. Act II has some more laughs. But the play is more amusing than hysterical. There's one howlingly funny moment where the show's only female character, Angie (Diane Buirski), out-does Meg Ryan's orgasm scene in "When Harry Met Sally…" But the humor rarely takes you over the top.

Brandan Powers Playwright Dulack wrote the show with the intention that the three made men, who are all friends, are unceasingly irritated with each other. He's said it's funny without that dynamic, but funnier with it. In this version of "Breaking Legs," the three men don't get irritated with each other.

While Mark Chambers and John Felix give good performances as Mike Francisco and Tino De Felice, respectively, they seem to be cartoons or caricatures rather then characters who are essentially funny. Felix has few lines, but delivers them in a humorous gravelly voice-from-the-grave. His comedic timing is impeccable. Chambers comes across like part squinty-eyed bulldog, part character from "Guys and Dolls," especially with his stilted way of speaking and avoidance of contractions. The running joke that he's perpetually suffering from indigestion but then orders - and eats - platefuls of spicy Italian food, grows old very quickly.

(Be forewarned that throughout much of this play, the male characters eat…and eat…and eat some more. They eat so much, you might start thinking Florida Rep's turned into a dinner theater. And if you come to theater planning on eating after the show, expect to be very hungry during the performance, as food plays a major part of this play.)

Bob Del Pazzo, as Lou, the restaurant owner and Angie's father, doesn't seem to embody his character. He was very funny in "Forum," but seems somewhat lost in this production, and not believable. And for some reason, he has less of an accent than his daughter, which made no sense to me.

Brendan Powers plays Terence, the serious college professor/playwright earnestly, an uptight bundle of nerves and sexual tension. And local actor J. Mitchell Haley has a brief role as Frankie, a small town hood who gets in over his head with gambling debts. When he meets with the mobsters he's so jittery he can't stop shaking.

But it's Buirski who makes this play what it is. Even though the script delegates her to the dual stereotypical roles of servant/temptress, she rises above that to portray Angie as a full human being. She is by far the best actor on that stage. (Though many watching might not even acknowledge her superb acting skills; for much of the play Buirski wears a short purple dress so snug it looks painted on, making her, in effect, a sex object for the audience too.)

Buirski plays Angie as if she's a real person who happens to say funny things, not as a caricature. The humor comes out of who she is and the situations she finds herself in, not in spouting one-liners. And her accent is impeccable, right on target. There's not one false note about this character.

There was something uneven about this production that I couldn't put my finger on. It's amusing, and provides occasion to chuckle, but it's not riotously funny. But director Robert Cacioppo tries to provide a variety of shows for the community this season. Perhaps this is the offering for people who like their comedy light and sit-com-ish.

If you go

>>What: "Breaking Legs"

>>When: 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, with selected matinees, through April 20

>>Where: Florida Repertory Theatre, 2267 Bay Street, between Hendry and Jackson in the Arcade Theatre in downtown Fort Myers

>>Cost: $24, $34, $38

>>Information: Call 332-4488 or go to www.FloridaRep.org

>>NOTE: There is free parking available across the street from the theater, but give yourself extra time, as streets around the theater are dug up and blocked off.