Doctor Cerberus Touches the Heart/Funny Bone
On Friday night April 16, First Nights audience members cheered the cast of Doctor Cerberus as the curtain descended on the world premiere by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and then re-grouped at Maggiano’s Little Italy for the Cast Party.
The “buzz” about the play was glowing, and glowing, too, were the red uplit entrance to Maggiano’s and the red and black gothic candles that adorned all the cocktail tables. Fog enveloped the two main buffet tables, rising from witches’ cauldrons, and headstones and skulls added a touch of “Nightmare Theatre.”
Sipping “Green Zombies” (actually, green apple martinis), two-by-two (or more) guests happily donned wigs, boas, crazy glasses, not to mention fake blood, and headed for the photo booth. Inside, they posed for four shots, which appeared seconds later, complete with event information.
The scrumptious menu included spinach Gorgonzola crostini, miniature double-baked potatoes, chicken saltimbocca roulade, miniature Italian meatballs and tentacle-type calamari (for added creepiness). A pasta station offered gnocchi and baked ziti, and the dessert station overflowed with tiramisu cups, lemon cookies, mini cheesecakes and brownies.
Party-goers sipped and nibbled and congratulated the artists as they arrived—cast members, designers, director and playwright, all happily posing for photos with their admiring audience members. As things wound down around midnight, everyone agreed that they’d enjoyed a hit play—capped by a hit party.
