Richard Marsh/Dearborn Press and Guide/August 7, 1986
The quality of plays produced during the summer tends to vary more than those done the rest of the year due to the difficulty in finding cast and crew. Henry Ford Community College’s production of “Wait Until Dark,” staged last weekend by George Popovich, seemed to suffer no ill-effects from this recurrent problem as the performances were outstanding and the technical aspects and directing were superior.
By far the two best performances were those of Randal Kuzdak as Mike Talman and Daniel T. Booth as Harry Roat, Jr. Both were totally believable in their roles. Michelle Mihail did a fine job as Susy Hendrix, and was totally convincing as a blind woman. Lisa McLogan as Gloria gave an interesting portrayal as the girl upstairs, an apt companion for the blind Susy. Others in the cast were James Worline as Sgt. Carlino, David Reinhard as Sam Hendrix and Cathryn Marcos and Kelly Gregory as police officers.
During the first two performances, three roles were played by different actors to give more students a chance to perform on stage. They were Beth Vessels as Susy Hendrix, and Debbie DeLisle as Gloria.
Both the lighting and special effects were effective and supported the show well, especially in the last, frantic act where the sole light onstage comes from a refrigerator. The last act had the audience screaming and jumping as smashed light bubs cracked and burned and spewed sparks across the stage. The split-second timing on the lighting and sound kept the audience biting their nails and gave them a high pitched conclusion to a show exquisitely performed.
Cast
- Mike Talman: Randal Kuzdak
- Carlino: James Worline
- Harry Roat, Jr: Daniel T. Booth
- Susy Hendrix: Beth Vessels
Dr. George Popovich 