University of Virginia Library

Light Man Shines

Light-man, J. Craig Johnson had
his shining hour, too. When Chance
Wayne threw open his shutters to
flood his hotel room with morning
sunlight, sol failed to greet him at
the appropriate time - opening
night fluke, of course, and excusable
as such; but when J. Craig gets
to try his luck at lighting a political
rally, his failure to do so properly
destroys a scene transition. In the
confusion before Boss Finley's
rally, it actually appeared as though
the stagehands were actors trying to
lynch Chance Wayne. (They were,
as things turned out, moving furniture,
but very dramatically so).
FLASH! The audience is blinded by
an array of GE superbulbs that
make Finley's rally all but visible.
Neat effect, J. Craig, but you can
save the tricks for the disruptive
theater.

But there was, however, that
final scene. Possibly, the dialogue
gave Chance Wayne the liberty to
become Robert Shimer for once;
because then he managed a laudable
interpretation, rather than a shallow
impersonation of Chance. At
any rate, the "clowns" were offstage,
and both Shimer and Bianca
Redden managed to carry the scene
alone with enough skill to salvage a
hearty, albeit sympathetic, applause.