Lakeside Little Theatre goes delightfully edgy and cynical with their production of “The Little Dog Laughed,” by Douglas Carter Beane.
The play was initially staged off-Broadway in 2005 and later moved to Broadway. It’s the story of talent agent Diane (Debra Felix) who is so jaded that, when someone asks her to give him her word, she remarks that it’s like asking a whore for her cherry. She has no recollection of when her word might have meant anything. Diane is a foul-mouthed, self-interested steamroller.
Her problem is her client Mitch (Corey Harper), an actor who recently won an award and is on the verge of stardom. Unfortunately, Mitch has a tendency to call up random guys for sex when he’s drunk. Diane knows that he must be perceived as straight in order for his career to take off and make them both rich.
Mitch falls for rent-boy Alex (Angel N. Valenzuela) who comes to his hotel room in NYC. They develop a tender relationship, each of them struggling to be real with the other. They also struggle to determine if they are gay, or if maybe they just really like each other ... and sometimes like to do gay things. Alex has a part-time girlfriend, Ellen (Ivy Ge), a grifter like him who pays her bills with an ex-boyfriend’s credit card.
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