Below is a very nice review of Plaza’s January production of MAN WITH THE POINTED TOES. Read on, enjoy, then call to make reservations.

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‘Man with the Pointed Toes’ ‘gits’ right to the point

PAUL GNADT

keenestar@thestargroup.com

Comfortable as an old shoe, with foot-stomping funny lines, a villainess who is a real heel, and some good ol’ boys to boot, “Man with the Pointed Toes” is the enjoyable — although predictable — current presentation of the Plaza Theatre Company. It runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through Jan. 29 at the Plaza Theater in Cleburne.

The sparse JaceSon Barrus-designed set —­ two chairs, a coffee table, a hi-fi player, one couch, a bar, and a tape recorder — is clever in its simplicity, allowing the audience to focus on the excellent acting in this, the 40th production of the Plaza. It was also its first four years ago when the company moved to Cleburne.

The intimate setting of the Plaza’s 158-seat theater-in-the-round is perfect for following the quick-paced dialogue of this comedy that is set in 1963 at the Snake Eyes Ranch in North Central Texas.

Only eight actors are involved, two of whom are usually helping behind the scenes as ticket sellers, ushers or emcee.

This time, Tina Barrus and Milette Siler, spouses of the aforementioned JaceSon and G. Aaron Siler, cofounders of the Plaza, take center stage with lead roles, and you wonder why they’ve spent so much time behind the scenes and not on stage.

In fairness, we’ve seen them before, in major roles in such productions as “Singin’ in the Rain,” and “My Fair Lady,” but this time they’re not sharing the stage with singers and dancers and a cast of thousands.

The story is about cerebrally challenged, grade-school-dropout rancher Tom Coterel (played by David Cook), who won his spread in a poker game, and, adding good fortune to his good luck, struck oil on it.

He’s a millionaire but is bankrupt in terms of social graces such as using proper English and knowing a salad fork from a pitch fork.

Enter Pamela Wright (Milette Siler), an evil golddigger who pursues Tom, who is foolish enough to believe she is interested in him and falls in love with her.

When Wright returns to New York and her high-society lifestyle for the summer, Tom decides to “git” a tutor to improve his speech and etiquette, especially at the home-style dinner table where Jose (played by Plaza favorite Andrew Guzman) prepares soup to be slurped by ranch hands Link Hanson (Kevin Poole), Lem Reed (Kyle Adams) and the ornery Hank Stover (Luke Hunt).

Tom hires straight-laced Florence Raines (Tina Barrus), who teaches Tom and the boys how not to talk Texan, how to dress and how lick the challenge of eating soup with a spoon instead of licking the bowl.

As you expect, Florence falls in love with Tom, but disguises her feelings by telling him she has a boyfriend named “Mot Leretoc,” who the entire audience realizes is his names spelled backward. But Tom and the boys are too backward to figure it out.

And as we also expect, Tom’s respect for Florence tuns into love.

How Wright’s sinister motives are uncovered and how Tom and Florence’s feelings for each other are revealed take some crafty plotting by the boys and some help from some booze.

Some may be offended by the amount of drinking, and Florence doesn’t really loosen up until she’s bombed, but I viewed it as a malady of the mindless, meaning Tom and the boys needed alcohol as a common denominator because they couldn’t talk about or find anything to do that is socially significant.

Guzman gets laughs and sympathy as the ranch’s Mexican cook who is treated badly by the boys until Florence teaches him to speak English.

Cook is good as Tom, delivering his “Texas Tom” and “Refined Tom” lines with authenticity and sincerity.

However, it never becomes clear about the importance of his “pointed toes,” unless the toes point inward and the analogy is that Tom had to look to himself to solve his problems.

Or at least sober up and walk straight.

Adams, Poole and Hunt hit the timing required to play off each other and their give-and-take is as funny as their affection for their boss is genuine under the excellent direction of Stefanie Glenn, who brings with her a previous Plaza experience plus a master’s degree from Texas Woman’s University.

But it’s the Barrus and Siler women who steal the show, each eliciting opposite emotions from the audience.

Siler’s Wright is slick and seductive, naughty and pouty. She brings an evil energy to each scene.

Barrus’ Florence is self-effacing, kind, humble and does an outstanding job of conveying her love for Tom without letting him know.

One of the constants through the performance is Jay Cornils, who plays Randall Wright, Pamela’s father.

The versatile Cornils, who appears in a Carnegie Players’ production one month and a Plaza the next, is always prepared and always locked into his role.

Perhaps Barrus, following the birth six months ago of her and husband JaceSon’s sixth child, will now find a little more time to act, while still making costumes for the shows, taking tickets and serving as emcee.

“The Man with the Pointed Toes,” from a late 1950s or early 1960s book by Lynn and Helen Root, presented through special arrangement with Tony Root, with stage management by Heather Aikman, costume design by Auston McIntosh, light design by Cameron Barrus and sound design by G. Aaron Siler, is presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 p.m. Saturdays through Jan. 29 at the Plaza Theatre, 111. S. Main St. in Cleburne.

Tickets — $15 for adults, $13 for senior adults age 65 and older and students, and $12 for ages 12 and under — are on sale at the box office and can be reserved at 817-202-0600.