Currently running at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, is a world premier comedy by Ed Dixon and directed by Ted Pappas. The price of admission is cheap when you stop and consider the opportunity to be face to face with a whacky variety of great people  ranging from Victor Hugo to Jim Morrison. My husband and I left the theater debating if the show is really a comedy, but if you are looking for laughs, a taste of some historical characters (where characters is the operating term) and an interesting story about hope, fear, and the meaning of life, then make sure to catch L’Hotel.

In a nut shell, the show revolves around a diverse collection of artist types from differing periods in history who are together locked in a space and time. Their personalities as well as the situation create a perfect environment for catchy, hilarity. I’ll say no more so  as not to give the storyline away.

In any show, women and men bring new life into characters who are fictionalized persons or real life figures, and I think that must be especially hard when the characters were real people with a history, reputations, and myths surrounding them. I came to appreciate this in a new way as I watched L’Hotel. If you are unfamiliar with any of the characters, some of the humor, may seem lost to you. Case in point: Isadora Duncan. This is a woman I thought I knew well, having studied her, and falling in love with her (to a degree) in a freshman History of Modern Dance class back at Ohio State University. My husband, on the other hand, had never heard of her, and couldn’t get some of the jokes because of it.

Of course most near and dear to me was the character of Oscar Wilde! What gay man wouldn’t just die to spend some time face to face with him! And I thoroughly loved every bit of him in this performance. I couldn’t help thinking about homophobia, bullying, passion, love and a wide range of emotions while he made me laugh. Great performances were the rule rather than the exception with this cast, and especially stellar performances were given by Evan Zes as the waiter, Tony Triano as Rossini, Deanne Lorette as Sarah Bernhardt, and Brent Harris as Oscar Wilde.

I have never really thought about how we learn about historical personalities colors our knowledge. Being an aspiring dancer (dance minor really), I was enamored with Duncan, Martha Graham and many free spirits that set the stage for people like Merce Cunningham and Modern Dance in general.  Yet, in my head, I missed some facts about her. The professor teaching the class, Dr Angelika Gerbes was the most free spirited dance person I had ever met, so  I internalized Duncan as Gerbes, and throughgout much of the show I struggled with the fact that this Isadora Duncan didn’t look like I expected her to look.

I often comment on the sets and lighting when I review a show at Pittsburgh Public Theater, because it seems a shame that the frame within which the actors create something is so often overlooked or left unconsidered, especially when they are so masterfully handled as is the case with this play. Everything about the visible parts of the set were perfect, but I must admit to struggling a little with the implied elements of statues and grave markers. Given that this was a world premier, I wonder if the story couldn’t be enhanced even further if these elements were a more concrete part of the set itself.

What a joy this play must have been to write. The idea of putting these diverse, crazy egos, into a space and let them interact was an amazing and fanciful experience to watch. My favorite line from the show? That’s easy. “Gertrude Stein.”