Caitlin rates it:
Blood! Guts! Kung-F-U! A beating heart ripped right out of a guy’s chest! And…err…umm…a ticket ripper at a theater?
Unlikely combo, but playwright John Morogiello successfully combines comedic violence with the daily going-ons of a theatre, and produces a hilariously entertaining story of an underappreciated ticket ripper.
Our protagonist, Jack, the ticket ripper, finds himself on the brink of unemployment (ha), and decides to take matters into his own hands to prevent an end to his 25-year run at the theatre. Brimming with repressed angst, Jack lashes out at the House Manger, slicing him with a severed ticket, which kills the Manager and launches the audience into a witty, yet gruesome, journey.
Jack, played by Jim Gagne, is exploding with energy in every turn, his eyes vividly portraying the electricity of a recent bout of psychosis. His cackle brings comedy to the crowd, and overall, Gagne successfully carries the show; he is engaging in every minute of stage time. Joining Jack is Julie (Charlene V. Smith), a naïve and eager-to-please volunteer usher, secretly pining for Jack. Julie is a recent college grad who studied playwriting – as she constantly reminds any one who will listen – and she hopes that her volunteer position will somehow lead to writing success. Jack convinces Julie to become his partner in crime – not a difficult task considering the girl is in love with him – and we are thus blessed with watching Julie’s bizarre quirks come out as she follows the man she loves on a killing rampage.
Smith and Gagne make a side-splitting team; Smith portrays a convincing innocence in Julie, which is foiled by her later-revealed bizarre sexual fetishes (she gets hot for Jack after he kills a couple more people). Julie also shares her heart with the audience members, who are left catching their breath from laughter as she sings a song about Jack (“He Slays Me”) complete with feather boa and over-exaggerated Broadway vibrato.
Smith and Gagne flawlessly propel the play with seamless momentum, making the fast-paced performance seem half as long as it truly is. Quick and dirty, Jack, The Ticket Ripper produces laughs with ease, combining farcical elements of horror films and theatre management. Anyone who’s ever had psychotic thoughts during a shift at a less-than-glamorous job (come on now, that’s everybody), should exorcise his anger by seeing Jack, The Ticket Ripper.
Jack, The Ticket Ripper 
By John Morogiello
Produced by the Georgetown Theatre Company
Reviewed byCaitlin DeMerlis
There are so many things that are right about this show. Also very, very worthy of mention is the superb script, the direction, and the stage combat (the killing scenes are just the best, well thought out and executed beautifully by the cast). Go see this show!!!
Loved this show on many levels! It’s not only laugh out loud funny, but also a loving parody of the theatre world.
One important fact to relate; the running time is more like 50 minutes than the advertised 90 minutes. I hope that knowing that fact makes it easier for you to fit in this fun and witty show, as well as helping yor Fringe scheduling generally.
The show was funny, but I didn’t find it as humerous or as polished as others here. Jack played the part to the hilt, and Julie was quite talented. Other cast members were more or less adequate in their limited roles. But there’s not much here other than a murderous romp. Thankfully, it was not as long as advertised. I kept wondering what was going to happen in the last half hour. Still, I was happy I saw it. 3 stars out of five.
Saw this one yesterday. Being that I don’t normally seek out comedies, I’m doing so with Fringe to try to work on my funny bone. This piece was nice. Not great, but entertaining, and predictable. “Jack” (I didn’t get a program, so I can’t call actor’s names) was a good nut roll. As a matter of fact I liked most of the character portrayals especially the “actress” and the “stage manager.” The actress was a nastly, demanding little tart that I couldn’t weep for when she got offed. Too bad the stage manager got offed. She was really my favorite since she took no smack off of anyone. Plus she put up a damn good fight with Jack — but not good enough. So this one was okay.
Based on the Fringe buzz I had high expectations for this show. So it was less than what I expected. John Morogillos script is excellent but predictable and the acting is good.
Quickpaced and well acted.
Wow! I just cracked some ribs that was caused by my chest swekkubg. I am so glad that you thought to send ut subce U ciykdb;t get ut using your Mother’s link.
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