Review by Pat Forrest, Photos by Matt Goertz

Tongue in cheek, veteran actor Gabe Ferazzo said that when he asked playwright Norm Foster what would be helpful in “exploring the socio-intellectual nuances” of his rock star character Tommy Quick in Foster’s Bedtime Stories, he was advised to get some “really cool boots.”

Ferazzo’s entrance, legs and feet encased in a pair of astoundingly towering boots, was just one moment among many others that caused audience members to erupt in loud and prolonged laughter.

Cambrian Players’ presentation of Bedtime Stories is classic Norm Foster. He delights in taking his audiences on an exploration of relationships that leaves them both touched and amused.   With Bedtime Stories, he examines the whole gamut of human emotions, from love and lusttokindness and compassion and just about everything in between.

Beverley Gravelle MacLeod has done an excellent job in directing this cast of diverse characters whose experience ranges from many years of “treading the boards” to relative newcomers.  Without consulting the program, you’d be hard pressed to figure out who were the veterans and who were the rookies. All of the performances were believable, engaging and often very funny.

You’ll meet a smarmy shock radio host, a 50-something couple about to have sex on live radio, a dying young man (producer Chris Jason, taking on dual responsibilities), a stripper with a unique problem, a befuddled taxi driver, a persistent groupie and more, including, of course, Quick himself.

The cold weather seems to be breaking but there’s nothing like some laughter to see us through to spring.  Bedtime Stories delivers laughs and life lessons galore.  The production continues with performances at the Paramount Theatre, March 11–14.