By Marilyn Jozwik
Even before the cast utter their first words in “Dad’s Season Tickets” at Sunset Playhouse, the stage is clearly set.
Patrons in Packer gear can be spotted milling about the lobby, and piped in music encourages audience members to respond with the familiar game day chant, “Go, Pack, Go!”
Being a football and Packer fan, I was anxious to see what playwright Matt Zembrowski, a 2001 graduate of Dominican High School, did with the book, lyrics and music for the show.
I figured it might be a little cheesy (pun intended), but I wasn’t prepared for how funny, heart-warming, and downright entertaining the show would prove to be.
The story nicely captures religiously practiced Packer game day traditions, like paying homage to a bobblehead Bart Starr before the game, wearing an unwashed lucky jersey, touchdown celebrations and special game-day food. It pokes fun at outfits needed for in-person games at Lambeau Field, causing one character to call a game-goer in inflated winter wear -- akin to a space traveler – “Buzz Aldrin.” A visit to Lambeau is dubbed “The Holy Grail.”
Fans, from left, Edgar (Corey Klein), Cordy (Lily Nielsen), Gabby (Sarah Briana Monahan), Frank (Tim Gensler), Rhonda (Caitlin Kujawski Compton) and Ralph (Jordan Paullin) react to the Packer game on TV in a scene from Sunset Playhouse’s “Dad’s Season Tickets.”
The story begins with Packer backer Frank Kosinski (Tim Gensler) in his Green Bay home. He seems to finally have turned a corner, three years after his wife has died, and elevated his mood just in time for the holidays and a Packer Super Bowl run. It’s December of 1996 and a Packer tree has been added to the Kosinski Packer-themed home that also includes teen-aged daughter and wannabe reporter Cordy (Lily Nielsen).
The heart of the play is the struggle of Frank’s two married daughters to inherit their aging Dad’s coveted Packer season tickets. The two have not been civil to each other for years, and their rivalry reaches a peak as they vie for this plum prize. Pregnant daughter Gabby Nimwitz (Sarah Briana Monahan) bleeds green and gold, while her sister Rhonda Kafura (Caitlin Kujawski Compton) doesn’t know a center from a goal post and would much rather deliver homemade treats to the game watchers than see the game.
Frank (Tim Gensler) discusses family business with his three daughters Rhonda (Caitlin Kujawski Compton), from left, Cordy (Lily Nielsen and Gabby (Sarah Briana Monahan) in a scene from Sunset Playhouse’s “Dad’s Season Tickets.”
Rhonda’s husband and crazed Packer fan Ralph (Jordan Paullin), however, desperately wants the tickets and tutors his wife on football ins-and-outs in an utterly charming tune, “Football is Like Love,” that turns into a ’90s love song complete with background singers --Pips with pompoms. Gabby’s husband Edgar (Corey Klein), a professor who incongruously scatters literary pearls at family gatherings, has a secret crush on a Packer rival team, which causes even more family friction.
Michael Pocaro directs a fine cast of a half-dozen who give each character a distinct likeability. It’s easy to recognize ourselves or someone we know in these truly relatable characters. My favorite is, perhaps, Klein, whose staid Edgar flaunts his professorial nature quite in contrast to the unabashed enthusiasm of other family members, especially his fanatic wife Gabby, played with cheerleader enthusiasm by Monahan. The pair’s “My True Colors” is a delightful bit.
I also enjoyed the Paullin and Compton pairing as Rhonda and Ralph, especially Ralph’s sincerity as he tries to convince Rhonda of his devotion to her in “I Love You More Than Football.” Compton is wonderful as she transforms, from purveyor of gametime treats to football aficionado, with gusto.
Gensler as Dad Frank finds himself playing referee to his bickering family. Nielsen as his daughter Cordy is hoping to find out why his sisters don’t get along. In a nicely done bit, Cordy uses her reporter’s curiosity in “Two Sides to Every Story” to get the scoop on their squabbles.
Perhaps the funniest piece is the opening to Act 2, “What Do You Do With a Bye Week?,” which has the family looking bored and lethargic as they lounge around lethargically on Sunday counting the days to the next Packer game.
Music director Mark Mrozek (keyboards), Tim Karth (drums/percussion) and Nic Buendia (bass) keep the tunes lively. The vocals are generally strong and pleasing, although some harmonies ended on discordant notes.
Choreographer Karl Miller incorporates lots of fun -- simple football-themed moves, complete with challenge and penalty flags, all handled nicely by this talented cast.
If you go:
Who: Sunset Playhouse
What: “Dad’s Season Tickets”
When: Though Sept. 24
Where: 700 Wall St., Elm Grove
Info/Tickets: 262-782-4430, SunsetPlayhouse.com