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Canberra Today 14°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Goldberg plays it for the laughs

Actor Dick Goldberg... expressive face and good timing.
ACTOR Dick Goldberg loves performing comic and serious parts, but his fans would say that comedy has the upper hand.

His current director, Tessa Bremner, for whom he has performed in “West Side Story”, “Fiddler on the Roof” and now “The Venetian Twins”, tells “CityNews” that, when it comes to making people laugh, he has an amazingly expressive face and good timing. Reluctantly, Goldberg agrees.

“I suppose it’s a natural advantage in doing a comic role,” he says, but hates theorising about comedy, preferring to stand on his record.

And what a record!

A veteran of the Canberra stage, he has performed Tom Lehrer songs in “Tomfoolery”, played in “Old Time Music Hall” 11 times, in “Jazz Garters” three times, in John Spicer’s famous production of “Noises Off” and “On the Razzle” for Rep, as Ali Hakim in “Oklahoma” and Thenardier (Master of the ‘ouse) in “Les Miserables” for Philo.

Now Goldberg will be putting his skills to the test again in Rep’s production of “The Venetian Twins”, the musical hit by Nick Enright and Terry Clarke. It’s an Ocker adaptation of a famous Goldoni play where identical twins turn up in the same town at the same time.

The play makes use of commedia dell’arte techniques and physicality is an important factor in playing the perpetually hungry and tricky Arlecchino (Harlequin), historically an athletic character whose opposite number, Columbina, is equally athletic.

Bremner’s casting is astute but quirky. Columbina will played by Kate Tricks, Goldberg’s opposite number in “Les Miz”.

To be sure, when I meet him, Goldberg has just been up and down Mount Ainslie, but he says his physical flexibility may not be as once it was. Not to worry, Bremner, an ace choreographer, has come up with some funny dance sequences for the pair.

Another old sparring partner is Ian Croker who will plays the villain, Pancrazio, a role Goldberg was almost cast in. The pair played Abbott and Costello’s famous sketch “Who’s on First?” in 2010, of which Goldberg says over-modestly, “it went down quite well”.

The pair will step outside their commedia rolls to do a turn as opening narrators and Goldberg will also play a jeweller in a small scene with Croker.

In short, with a bunch of old comedy mates on stage, as Goldberg says, “we hit the ground running”.

“The Venetian Twins”, Theatre 3, June 22 -July 7. Bookings to 6257 1950.

 

 

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Helen Musa

Helen Musa

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