Life presents unexpected challenges to a newlywed bride in Bekah Brunstetter’s gut-puncher of a dramedy Be A Good Little Widow, a particularly fine visiting production at West L.A.’s Odyssey Theatre.

25-year-old Melody (Adrienne Visnic) is doing her best to be a good little wife to her lawyer husband Craig (Sterling Knight) when first we meet the romcom-ready newlyweds in the Connecticut house the young couple now call home.

The move to Craig’s native state may bring Melody’s hubby into closer proximity with his widowed mother Hope (Sandy Bainum), but it leaves his citified bride feeling isolated and spending far too many hours waiting for Craig to return from yet another business trip.

“Project Runway” and yoga help Melody to while away those lonely hours, but too much time on her hands leaves her vulnerable to the masculine charms of Craig’s handsome young paralegal Brad (Khylin Rhambo), though to Melody’s credit, this goes no further than a bit of harmless albeit risky flirtation when Brad pops by on an errand for Craig.

And here’s where I advise you to stop reading and simply head on over to the Odyssey, trusting that what director Brandon Baer and his stellar cast have in store for you will more than merit an evening or matinee on the West Side.

For those who don’t mind a spoiler or two, here goes.

The lead story on tonight’s evening news changes Melody’s life forever, leaving her to forge a new life without Craig under the disapproving regard of her tightly-wound mother-in-law and the considerably less intimidating gaze of the still dangerously attractive Brad, with This Is Us producer-writer Brunstetter managing to find laughter in life’s most tragic moments.

Melody wants Skittles at Craig’s funeral. A horrified Hope responds that she has already hired a caterer. Hope suggests that Melody join her Widows’ League. Melody would rather find comfort in the rap music Craig played while working out. (“Apparently, when he was running he liked to feel like he could kill people,” she quips.) It’s no wonder, then, that their gradual softening to each other as two women united in shared widowhood proves so powerful and rewarding.

Director Baer’s reunion with Barefoot In The Park leading ladies Visnic and Bainum proves especially fortuitous, the dynamic duo having already done some palpable mother-daughter bonding over Neil Simon’s considerably sunnier look at newlywed life.

Having already proven herself one of L.A.’s brightest musical theater stars, Visnic now reveals not only girl-next-door comedic gifts but bona fide heartfelt dramatic chops as a newlywed’s giddiness turns into a Connecticut housewife’s boredom and then into to a new widow’s gut-wrenching pain.

Musical theater triple-threat Bainum does stunning dramatic work too as a grieving mother who finds herself now utterly alone, even as she continues her by-the-rules mourning of Craig’s long-deceased dad.

Knight transitions effortlessly from TV teen to stage adult in a hard-to-resist featured turn as a young husband whose presence in his widow’s heart and home even death cannot erase

Last but not least, rising young TV actor Rhambo makes a confident, charismatic stage debut as a young man whose devotion to his boss makes his attraction to the boss’s wife all the more poignant, a good guy tempted to do things a good guy shouldn’t.

Be A Good Little Widow reunites several of Celebration Theatre’s most accomplished designers to give the Odyssey Theatre guest production a Grade-A look and sound, from scenic designer Pete Hickok’s and properties designer Michael O’Hara’s charming Connecticut suburban home, to Allison Dillard’s just-right contemporary costumes, to a lighting design by Matthew Brian Denman that transitions strikingly from reality to fantasy and back, and sound designer Jesse Mandapat adds to the production’s impact with dramatic effects, music ranging from hardcore rap to Louis Armstrong jazz, and cascading answering machine messages.

Austin Karkowsky is assistant director. Garrett Baer is dramaturg. Jamie Salinger is stage manager and Zaira Paredes-Villegas is assistant stage manager. Story Slaughter and Austin Humble are understudies.

Be A Good Little Widow is produced by Christopher Sepulveda. Sterling Beaumon is co-producer and Louis Baglio is associate producer.

Following Bekah Brunstetter’s much acclaimed Echo Theater Company/Geffen Playhouse smash The Cake and confectioned with equal parts talent and love, Be A Good Little Widow makes for a particularly savory late-spring theatrical treat.

Odyssey Theatre, 2055 South Sepulveda Boulevard, Los Angeles.
www.odysseytheatre.com

Steven Stanley
May 24, 2019
Photos: A Kell Photography

Tags: Bekah Brunstetter, Los Angeles Theater Review, Odyssey Theatre