Rating: 3 out of Fordyce (Very Good)

A clever play making the rounds in Michigan right now is “It Came from Mars.” This is the story of several radio actors, a German sound effects man, and a nervous, yet smart receptionist. They are in the middle of rehearsing a play on October 30, 1938, when they get caught up in the frenzy of the infamous “War of the Worlds Broadcast” by Orson Welles. The first act sets you up to get to know these people and their intense rivalry with Welles, which makes you enjoy Act 2 so much more.

This is a new play byJoseph Zettlemaier being shown through March 21 at the Performance Network Theater in Ann Arbor. The cast is a wonderful ensemble. One of my favorites, Joe Albright, plays George, an obnoxious veteran of World War 1. Wayne David Parker, a veteran of Jeff Daniels’ “Escanaba “ plays at the Purple Rose Theater, is the insecure Quenton, and Alysia Kolascz is Dolores. Others in the cast include Sandra Birch and Morgan Chard as two strong and very different women of the ’30s; and there is Jacob Hodgson as Werner, the sound effects boy. While his accent isn’t perfect, his physical comedy and naivety makes this show very funny.

Hats off to director Tony Casselli for unifying this cast into one likeable bunch of oddballs, and I would be remiss if I did not mention the technical people from behind the scenes who make the magic work. In this show there is a clever art deco ’30s set, with perfect lighting, sound, and costumes to take you back to a time long ago.

This show gets a very good 3 out of Fordyce. Grab a ticket and get ready to have lots of lighthearted fun. It runs at PTN through March 21. But if you miss it there, you can see it at the Williamston Theater March 31- April 18. I plan to see it again at that theater so I can compare and contrast. 

P.S. Kevin, (Your host of “MI Menagerie”) and I had dinner before the show at Kai Gardens. It was delicious as always, and after we told the friendly staff we were running a few minutes late and needed to make the 8 o’clock curtain around the corner, they took our order right away to make sure we had time to eat our dinner without rushing.