A Trip to Popcorn Falls

The Tony-winning and hilarious Christian Borle is making his debut, directing the madcap action/adventure/love/comedic story Popcorn Falls. In the play, 2 men inhabit 20 different roles while telling the story of the struggling town of Popcorn Falls, where the famous waterfall has all dried up. Knowing Borle's humor, the piece sounds tailor made for him, and if he weren't directing it, I'm sure he'd be in it.

Popcorn Falls opened its first preview last evening, at the Davenport Theatre; a tiny off-Broadway theatre holding about 120 seats. Unfortunately, most of those seats were empty today. But I'm assuming they will soon be full because judging what I saw the show is practically perfect. I'm owning up the empty seats to the fact the show isn't out of previews yet. We only saw it so early in its run because we were hoping to see Christian in the audience prepping last minute notes. Alas, he was not to be seen sadly.

The show however, was wonderful. Funnily, this is my second show this season in which 2 actors play all the characters. In both instances, the men were perfectly cast. Adam Heller, plays the Mayor of Popcorn Falls, and a few other inhabitants ("they like to be called kernels...") of the town. He stayed mostly in character as the Mayor however, and was very very funny. Surprisingly, this play isn't played entirely for laughs. Heller brought a real heart to his little love story. He was a fantastic straight man for the madcap antics of Tom Souhrada. 

Souhrada on the other hand, effortlessly sprung into and out of characters at the drop of a hat (or a cat in some instances...) He is a brilliant comedian, and each of his personalities had distinct traits that he never dropped or seemed to forget. I can only imagine how difficult the timing of a performance like this is for the actors, and both seemed to pull it off flawlessly.

Popcorn Falls is a small show, yet it had real heart and some seriously funny comedic moments. I highly recommend checking this gem out, if for nothing else than to marvel at the superhuman feats of acting these two fabulous actors pull off in 90 minutes of stage time. While their names may not be familiar to a casual theatergoer, I predict they will soon be if their performances in Popcorn Falls are to be judged!