Despite his strong voice, proficiency at both the piano and the xylophone, and encyclopedic knowledge of musical theatre, Horace Vanderveer is a casting director's worst nightmare. This is because Horace, as played by Ben Rauch in his recent comic cabaret at the Laurie Beechman, has loads of enthusiasm, but he doesn’t have a clue. With his Oxford accent and well-intentioned naïveté, Horace is completely wrong for such roles as Conrad Birdie, Frankie Valli and Elphaba, but he is still bound and determined to be a star.

Backed by a gaggle of teenage girls (he wants to get them before they leave the biz to have families, he explains), Vanderveer veers from role to role as he proudly describes his career as a perpetual community theatre understudy. Rather than making Vanderveer talentless or stupid, creator and star Rauch makes his character sympathetic by letting him be sweetly clueless. Anyone who’s struggled to find their place in the world can appreciate this silly, charming and very entertaining show.

Miles Phillips directed the show and has received a 2008 MAC nomination for his work.

Jena Tesse Fox
Cabaret Scenes
March 4, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org