Bridesmaids Mindy (Allison Barnett) and Georgeanne (Regina Rae Heim) look on as Trisha (Lisa McCrossen, right) gives Frances (Emily Chandlee) a makeover in Heller Theater's “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress.”
A. CUERVO/Tulsa World

Bridesmaids have a Ball dishing dirt on life and love in witty play

More accurately, in Alan Ball's southern-fried comedy of love, lust and lunacy, you're invited to take part in a wedding's aftermath: the boozing it up and hooking up, the dissecting and dissing of the nuptials.

You know, events that often become as much a part of a wedding as the ceremony itself, except that these post-activities are usually more fun.

The wedding day world created in Ball's play, which opened Friday night as Heller Theater's presentation at the Summerstage theater festival, is ripe for the picking apart.

The never-seen bride is Tracy, apparently a perfect woman marrying a wealthy man. As one character notes, Tracy is the glamour magazines' ultimate "do" girl.

But this play focuses on five bridesmaids, all "don't" girls imperfect in their own ways. It doesn't take long to realize that none of these women even like the bride.

But wearing their hot pink satin dresses with poofy shoulders and pin-cushion headwear -- fun costuming work for Cyndi Vetter -- this quintet seems hand-picked to appear as homely assistants who make the bride look even better.

The wedding's over, the reception's begun, and these ladies need a break. They find sanctuary in an upstairs bedroom with a window that looks down upon the gala below.

There's Meredith (played by Sarah Alfred), the bride's younger sister and a bitter pill who is especially mad at the world on this day; Trisha (Lisa McCrossen), the pretty, free spirit of the bunch who loves sex but not commitment; Georgeanne (Regina Rae Heim), the on-the-make pal whose own marriage is slowly falling apart; Frances (Emily Chandlee), the bride's naive cousin who already has one man in her life - Jesus Christ - but isn't averse to meeting a cute Christian; and Mindy (Allison Barnett), the groom's sister and, as a lesbian, the only one here not looking for a man.

"I prefer a nice set of hooters myself," Mindy states proudly as the ladies circulate opinions of desired physical assets in a mate.

You expect hilariously blunt comments like these from playwright Ball, the Oscar-winning scripter of "American Beauty" and creator of "Six Feet Under." Such is the case when Georgeanne describes a recent sexual encounter with an old beau that ended up on a bar's concrete parking lot beside a Dumpster.

"I'll never be able to smell garbage again without thinking of him," she confides.

It's a bit of a telling comment as well, as these gals talk trash about men for the better part of two hours. The topics of the evening include men, mothers, weddings, religion, drug use, men, men and men.

It's all done in such a fun, teasing spirit - these girls know how to poke fun at each other - that the play is a hoot until about 20 minutes before the conclusion, when a man finally enters the scene and the life is sucked out of the play.

It's a scene that asks us to believe that one woman, who has for the entire play and most of her life held one set of beliefs, is abruptly considering change for this stranger after a few minutes of small, cutesy talk.

The play's strength is in Ball's writing, creating a comic, kindred spirit atmosphere around this wedding for the ladies, making it a place where these folks take stock of their lives.

They are all missing some little something in their own lives, and although none of them is close friends, they find in each other temporary soulmates, someone else to care about if only for a short time.

But we're not led to believe that any of them have made any life-altering decisions about themselves, so the moments between the previously mentioned man and woman ring false.

Although this scene falls flat, the rest of the play is a delight. Julie Tattershall's direction here is solid.

The action flows across this PAC stage, and the chemistry among her cast clearly is the result of many humorous rehearsals.

The bedroom set design by Larry Latham is wonderfully appointed, and these talented women even make an unintentionally collapsing bed a further part of the comedy.

Each woman has a moment to shine in these well-written characters, and a couple do so more than others.

Alfred is particularly good as the ticked-off, foot-stomping little sib, a profanely comic revelation who knows she'll never be the ideal bride like her big sister.

Perhaps the most satisfying moment of Friday's production was watching a sold-out crowd of about 200 file in.

It's four times as many as could view a Heller presentation at its 50-seat house in Heller Park, and those in attendance got a good idea of the shows that this company stages there.

A witty little work with more than its share of laughs and "I've been there" moments, an invitation to this wedding party is one you should consider accepting.

Heller Theater's production of "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress," a presentation of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust's Summerstage theater festival, continues with performances at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday at the Liddy Doenges Theater of the PAC, at Second Street and Cincinnati Avenue.

Tickets cost $6-$8 and may be reserved at the PAC box office, either by calling 596-7111 or online at www.tulsapac.com.