The Check Is In The Mail (FringeNYC)
At a failing printing company, longtime partners Leon (Allen Lewis Rickman) and Jerry (J. Michaels) argue about what must be done to keep them from going back to their first shop on 10th Avenue. But their management skills are, shall we say, a little different: When a disgruntled employee (Cynthia Granville) comes to him complaining about her bonus, he sends her out with a flea in her ear. Then she joins the competition, taking their best accounts with her; as Jerry pleads with Leon to apologize and smooth things over, Leon calls a consultant of a deadly stripe (Francis Callahan) to take her off the balance sheet permanently.
As a satire of the modern business world, The Check Is In The Mail is about as sharp as a paper cut, except for the dance breaks in which a trio (Joyce A. Beck, Stefanie Smith, and Kristin O’Blessin) showcases its versatility over a soundtrack of headlines from the recent economic crisis. But Granville is great as a hard worker whose patience has been pushed to the limit, but Rickman matches her with his boorish antics and pronounced inability to see a new economic regime in the way. And this neat black comedy works itself out in just the right amount of time so none of the seams show.
The Check Is In The Mail is part of the New York International Fringe Festival. For tickets and more information, please visit fringenyc.org.
