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ALL HAT, NO HORSE: MENNA SAVES THE DAY

Newmenna2

Not to give too much away, but there’s a moment in “Mark Twain’s A Murder, A Mystery and a Marriage,” the new play at the Two River Theater, that involves a last-minute rescue of an innocent by a lawman in a ten-gallon cowboy hat.

It’s what Latin lover (the language, that is) Mayor Pasquale Menna calls a “deus ex machina” — or “god from the machine,” a theatrical concept connoting a fortuitous reversal of fate by implausible means.

Well, pardner, at last night’s first preview of the play, the role of the deus/marshal was played by none other than Menna himself.

“They needed a body, and they said I was it,” Menna tells redbankgreen this morning. “I hope I didn’t embarrass Red Bank too much.”

Menna says TRTC artistic director Aaron Posner called him yesterday to offer him the walk-on role, which comes with about five minutes of stage time, a smattering of lines and, in his case at least, no rehearsal.

Menna couldn’t resist, though he’s much more comfortable donning the finery of aristocratic Europe when he’s not in his lawyerly togs.

“I looked ridiculous in that hat, like George W. Bush,” he says. “Then again, some people say I am a Republican.”

We hear that the marshal’s role has also been offered to at least one other political luminary: 12th-district Democratic Congressman Rush Holt.

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Posted on May 14, 2008 at 9:50 am, filed under Entertainment, Government, People, Politics, Theater. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed. Email this story.
A. H. Fisher Diamonds Red Bank

  • Geez, RedBankGreen, Why don't you guys also let us know the ending in the new Indiana Jones movie? Oh well. It's still a wonderful theatre. With or without celebrity walk-ons. Maybe Bruce will play the marshal at the performance I go to see.

    – A TRTC Subscriber

    Posted by: surprise_ruiner on May 14, 2008 at 4:50 pm | Permalink

  • I will be following in our Mayor's footsteps on June 6th when I play the role of marshal. The Two River Theater has asked a different individual to fill that role for each performance. This will be my theatrical debut –and most probably — demise! Whatever, it should be fun!

    Kathy Horgan
    Councilwoman
    Red Bank, NJ

    Posted by: Kathy Horgan on May 20, 2008 at 11:08 am | Permalink

  • Finally got to TRT for this show last night. Sadly, the theater was half empty. I hope that was just one bad night for attendance. The show was so much more fun than I ever expected.

    If anyone is looking for an evening of mindless, fun entertainment, GO TO TRT for this show. No deep plot; no timely message; no PhD's required. But if you like Stan Freberg's style of humor and the music of the "Opry", you will have one of the best evenings you can imagine. Terrific band; great cast. Bravo TRT and Mr. Posner.

    Posted by: Padrone on May 29, 2008 at 6:46 am | Permalink

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