'Daddy's Dyin' brings laughs

Hill Players gave a dang good knee-slapping, tear-jerking performance last night in their opening show of Daddy's Dyin', Who's Got The Will? The performance was at times hysterically funny and movingly dramatic, and the acting was superb. Daddy's Dyin', Who's Got The Will, written by Del Shores, is a family drama complete with juicy feuds, secrets and sex. It is about the members of a family who all return home to Lowake, Texas, when their father is dying. All hell breaks loose as the family rummages through the house searching for the father's missing will. Family problems are confronted, and lovers and relatives are betrayed. However, the play also has its touching moments, as relatives attempt to reconcile their differences and a new romance is begun. Daddy's Dyin', Who's Got The Will is non-stop entertainment. The script by Shores is highly amusing and dramatic and the interactions between the characters strikingly real. All of the actors put in impressive performances. Renee Ryerson, a College freshman, was powerfully convincing as the family grandmother, Mama Wheelis, who tries to hold the family together. Reminiscent of the tv show "Mama's Family," Ryerson was comical in her nylon knee-hi's as she cooked for and carped at her family. Also attempting to preserve harmony is the holier-than-thou preacher's wife, Lurlene Turnover, who is well played by College senior Lori Blackman. Rebecca Creskoff, a College senior, spices up the family drama in a strong performance as Evalita Turnover, the promiscuous wild sister and multiple divorcee. Her current fiance, a hippie named Harmony Rhodes, is played by College senior Michael Pomerantz. He is convincing in his role, adding virtually the only touch of sanity to the otherwise zany family gathering. College junior Jill Abramovitz is at her best in this performance as Marlene Turnover. She provokes uproarious laughter from the audience as her character gets stoned, has the munchies and shoves food into her mouth while talking at the same time. Ann Louise Elliot, a College senior, is deserving of much merit for her dramatic rendering of home-bound, frustrated Sara Lee Turnover. College sophomore Zachary Hochkeppel, who played the dumb, fat brother Orville Turnover, and Nursing freshman Tomas Modic as father Buford Turnover, add even more humor and irony to this touching and funny play. Daddy's Dyin', Who's Got The Will? is a must-see show. Additional performances are tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. in Houston Hall Auditorium. Tickets are $5 and are available on Locust Walk and at the door.

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