Curtain call: Laughter with a bite

The show follows Diane (Deb Keller), a shrewd, verbally lethal agent, and her client Mitchell Green (Blake Bowen), a leading Hollywood actor with a potential publicity problem. The problem? Mitchell is a gay man who desires to be open about his sexual orientation, and conventional wisdom says one cannot be a bankable leading actor in movies and be openly gay. If Mitchell desires to be happy with a man and still star in Hollywood blockbusters, arrangements must be made.

If for nothing else, Bowen and Keller’s performances alone make this a must-see show. Keller’s muscular, toned physique and defiant stance, topped with a platinum blonde wig, make for an imposing figure. She’s beautiful, but hardly dainty or petite. Diane may be aggressive, but she’s not evil — just realistic. When necessary, she drops the truth like napalm on a shrub, reducing egos to ashes. It’s a performance few others in Lansing could convincingly play and Keller nails it.

As her partner in crime/emotional balance, Bowen brings enormous warmth and empathy to his spineless character. Like a beefed-up Tom Hanks, Bowen’s appeal is his “everyman” persona mixed with quiet charisma. Mitchell may be a whiny, insecure actor, but Bowen makes him so interesting to watch. Maybe that’s because it never feels like Bowen is acting.

Keller and Bowen combine their powers in an especially electric scene near the end of act one. Both are meeting a third (invisible) client for lunch to pitch turning the invisible writer’s play into a film starring Mitchell. Mitchell and Diane seamlessly shift from recalling bits of the conversation and their inner thoughts, and the entire scene feels like a song that hits every beat.

Michael Boxleitner and Cassie Little star in supporting roles — Boxleitner as a hustler named Alex and Little as Alex’s girlfriend Ellen — but their roles often feel like filler. Both Boxleitner and Little are still growing as actors. They get their respective moments to shine in the show, but not as consistently as Keller and Bowen.

Ambitious lighting design aids the performance courtesy of designer Jeff Miller and board operator David Cooper. Individual beams jump from person to person to clearly distinguish whose inner monologue the audience is experiencing. It’s a surprising number of light cues for a low-budget production, but the effort is definitely appreciated.

“The Little Dog Laughed” is far from perfect. The title is terribly confusing, the script gets excessively “meta” in the second act — with an almost incestuous level of selfreference — and the production values are a little rough around the edges. In addition, if you’re not already familiar with Hollywood distinctions of “leading actor” versus “character actor,” along with other Hollywood lingo, this show might be a little over your head. But its clear director Michael Hays set a high bar for this production and his effort and passion, combined with a capable cast and crew, are apparent in every element of this play.

“The Little Dog Laughed”

Riverwalk Theater 8 p.m. Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7; 2 p.m. Sunday, March $12/$10 students, seniors and military 228 Museum Drive, Lansing (517) 482-5700, riverwalktheatre.com