2008 Woodie Awards
'Escanaba in da Moonlight' brings U.P. comedy south
Audience relates to Jeff Daniels' Michigan play
By: Frank Wisswell
Issue date: 10/15/07 Section: News
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Other students just said they saw a funny play.
"Escanaba in da Moonlight," written by former CMU student Jeff Daniels, ran from Wednesday to Sunday in Moore Hall's Bush Theatre.
The play, featuring Pollock, Oakley sophomore, and Hays, Farming senior, centers on the Soady family's annual hunting trip to a cabin just outside of Escanaba. Reuben Soady, played by Mount Pleasant senior Josh Martin, is 35 years old and has yet to shoot a buck. If Reuben is unsuccessful again, he will become the oldest Soady in history to not bag a buck.
The play used local humor, which many in the audience appreciated.
"You have to be from around here," said Kirk Damic, St. Charles resident.
Even the opening lines, delivered in a thick Upper Peninsula accent, contained references to Mackinac Island and the Department of Natural Resources.
Romulus freshman Kevin Stobbe said the locality of the play added to the humor.
"I loved their Yooper accents," he said.
Stobbe also said he liked that the play was interactive. In the opening scene, audience members were asked if they had ever visited the Upper Peninsula - not including Mackinac Island.
"The acting was phenomenal," said Andrew James Martin, Warren freshman.
Andrew James Martin said the play made him feel like he really was watching a family talk. While being from Michigan made the play more humorous, many of the jokes were universal, he said.
"You can still enjoy it without being from around here," he said.
His favorite scene involved three principal characters trying to make a sleeping Jimmer Negamanee, Pollock, pass gas in order to wake up a stunned Reuben Soady, Josh Martin.
The play was written by Daniels in 1997 and a film of the same name starring Daniels was released in 2001.
Damic said there were a few key differences between the play and the movie, namely in the transitions between scenes. While Damic said the film was able to show many different locales, all the action in the play took place in the Soady family's hunting lodge.
Stobbe said now that he has seen the play, he plans on seeing the movie.
"It was local, it was Michigan," he said.
news@cm-life.com
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Rose Kelley
posted 10/15/07 @ 7:59 AM EST
The cast and crew of Escanaba in da Moonlight did a marvelous job. How those men keep serious faces through all that silliness, is amazing! Thank you, CMU theater, for sharing you productions with the community. (Continued…)
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