Timeless (and out of touch) ‘Father’
By CHRIS PAGE

Somebody forgot to tell David Dietlein that Valley folk don’t get married in June.

So what’s he doing staging the classic nuptial comedy “Father of the Bride” at his Hale Centre Theatre at the start of the sweltering season?
Dietlein, who himself got married in the East Valley in September, laughs and shrugs off the irony.

“People still get married, hot or cold, rain or shine,” he says.
Fair enough. After all, we can concede this basic fact: Live theater has always required a heavy suspension of disbelief. Consider how many theater companies here shamelessly include snowflakes in their holiday show decorations. As if a white Christmas in Mesa would be sign of something cheerier than nuclear winter.

Plus, there are more pressing chronological concerns in producing “Father,” a charmingly old-fashioned comedy that wears its 1950s-era tone entirely on its sleeve. Many of the jokes and setups — like a 16-year-old boy who frets about the appropriateness of wearing a T-shirt in public — are positively quaint by today’s standards.

Director Charlie LeSueur, who also stars as the dad whose nerve-racking over his daughter’s wedding plans forms the heart of the play, says he’s added little touches — including borrowing a narrative device from the 1991 Steve Martin film remake of “Father” — to perk up the Hale production. The fretful T-shirt teen? In this production, he’s played as a 12-year-old, making a scene in which the panicked pop tosses him the car keys funnier on a new level.

“But,” LeSueur says of the show, “it’s still a nostalgia piece.”

Which isn’t such a bad thing. The 2-year-old Hale has earned a warm reputation for doing family comedies, like “Father,” often best known for their classic film versions.

For this show, it’s the 1950 movie starring Spencer Tracy and Liz Taylor.

“Tracy was a little sedate for my tastes,” LeSueur says, adding he’s playing the role closer in the vein of Steve Martin’s take.

Neither Dietlein nor LeSueur is really worried about the time discrepancies of staging “Father of the Bride” now. The show, they say, is timeless.

“I have six daughters. Four of them have already been married, and I’ve got one getting married in September,” LeSueur, 54, says. “So I can kind of relate to this father. I’m looking at the script and seeing lines I’ve said at least five times now.”

‘Father of the Bride’
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, through July 2
Where: Hale Centre Theatre, 50 W. Page Ave., Gilbert How much: $16-$18
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