November 21, 2007 > Greater Tuna Greater Tuna By Emma Victoria G. Blanco Broadway West Theater concludes the 2007 season with the hilarious production of Greater Tuna, a comic tour-de-farce by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard, and directed by Jim Woodbury. What began as a party parody, Greater Tuna opened in New York (Off Broadway) on October 21, 1982 and has since become one of the most produced plays in America. Broadway West's opening night took place on Friday, November 16. "Less is better" in this production, in which talented actors Robin Dunn and Todd Wright portray (and engage the audience as) the colorful citizens of Tuna, Texas. Dunn and Wright are impressive with their quick costume and characterization changes and are notably comic with their theatrical illustration of small town close-mindedness. Dunn is funny as Petey Fisk of the Humane Society, who advocates passionately for the adoption of Yippy (a part Terrier, part Chihuahua puppy with incessantly piercing "yips"), and as Charlene Bumiller, the local high school senior whose dream to be a cheerleader remains unfulfilled but whose touching poem "Tuna, Oh My Tuna" has a chance of winning the Regionals and going to Nationals in Butte, Montana. Wright is captivating as Bertha Bumiller, who shows patience and love for her three children, but not so much for the ten dogs that her youngest has adopted, and as R.R. Snavely, the local drunk who has repeated sightings of a flying chalupa. Dunn and Wright's entertaining portrayal of all twenty different and eccentric roles make Tuna's inhabitants memorable. They deliver an uproarious send-up about the residents of the third smallest town in Texas. "Yes, they do. They do. They do. They do." Greater Tuna Nov 16 - Dec 22 8 p.m., Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (no performances Thanksgiving weekend) Matinees at 1 p.m. on Dec 2, 9 and 16 $20 General Admission Broadway West Theatre Company 4000 B-Bay St., Fremont (510) 683-9218 www.broadwaywest.org