"Duck Hunter Shoots Angel." As a headline, it's kind of up there with "Bat Boy Sighted in NYC Subway" and "Air Traffic Controllers Guide UFOs."
It's also a hilarious production at Stage Coach Theatre about Sandy, a jaded tabloid reporter for the Weekly World and Globe, which is best known for its stories about a half-man, half-alligator seeking revenge. The Weekly World and Globe sends him on assignment to Alabama to track down two duck hunters who supposedly shot an angel. It's a trip home for Sandy, who left the state, and the love of his life, behind to pursue a journalistic career up north.
The show is beautifully cast. Ben Hammill is likable as Sandy, and Courtney Ransom (the woman he loved) and Marissa Jerome (Kansas, a girl who works a a convenience store) do a wonderful job bringing out his warmer side and transforming his character. Bradley Campbell is delightfully manic and cynical as Sandy's editor, who becomes outraged when other news sources start encroaching on his territory. Larry "French" Brown plays a black photographer for the Weekly World and Globe, and it's his comic timing and reactions to the other characters that make some of the racial humor in the show work so well. Brian Zuber, who portrays Duane Early, is perfect as a hysterical, scheming counterpoint to his character's brother, Duwell. And Curtis Ransom flat out steals the show as Duwell Early, a dim-witted duck hunter afraid for his soul who believes that the Weekly World and Globe is God's truth and also believes the angel he and his brother shot has a mission for him. As an audience member, you want him to be on stage the whole time.
The only weak spot I remember noticing in the show was when a few key lines were rushed and hard to make out near the end in Jerome's crying scene. (Enunciating and crying convincingly at the same time is a tough line to walk.)
The show also had some really nice technical and costume effects, particularly the final moment of the show.
The show's in its last weekend. Definitely go see it.
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