PAUL LYNDE'S HEADLINING SUMMER STOCK CREDITS

Summer 1975

A comedy written by Woody Kling & Robert J. Hilliard

Director: Lawrence Kasha

PAUL LYNDE … Howard Travis

Sean Allan … Raymond Weaver

Hal Buckley … Teddy Parker

J.P. Finnegan … The Cop

Alice Ghostley … Elinor Travis

Jennifer Leak … Dolores

Leonard Simon  … Kenneth

Barra Nielsen played Dolores at some stops.

Plain Dealer
LYNDE IS NATURAL IN KENLEY COMEDY by Donna Chernin
With that inimitable smirk plastered across his face and his nasal voice and snicker, Lynde seems a natural for the role of the distraught man who finds pleasure in irritating his ex-wife… (6/26/75)

Dayton Journal Herald
LYNDE BARELY SAVES THE PLAY by P.J. Bednarski
Lynde, as always, is able to get a laugh for doing practically nothing, and certainly nothing you haven’t seen before. That generally pleases the audience which expected that, and got it, in spades. As for the play itself, why complicate things? (7/3/75)

Columbus Citizen Journal
LYNDE, GHOSTLEY HILARIOUS IN KENLEY ‘STOP THIEF, STOP’ by Ron Pataky
There is simply no question at all in my mind but that Paul Lynde is among the funniest, most inventive comedians in history… As has been the case in recent years, Lynde’s vehicle is admittedly a bit fragile—a play constructed primarily of one-liners (many hilarious) and designed for nothing but the plain and unadulterated showcasing of the man they come to see. In this, it succeeds beautifully, all this despite its lightweight status as a play… If, like me, you’re a Paul Lynde fan, count the week another must along the way. But you’d better be a Paul Lynde fan. (7/9/75)

Flint Journal
PAUL LYNDE MILKS THE LINES TO FORTIFY COMEDY by David V. Graham
Opening night’s capacity audience clearly appreciated Lynde’s performance as he returned to Whiting Auditorium for the second year in a row. But he didn’t get the standing ovation he got and deserved in last year’s “Mother Is Engaged.” That is peculiar, because Star Theater audiences usually give even the weakest shows such ovations… No matter. Lynde’s performance is remarkable. Every expression, word, gesture is an example of his comic expertise. He raises his eyebrows and the crowd cracks up. And nearly ever line is tailored for Lynde’s benefit, and he expertly milks another… (7/16/75)

Toledo Blade
PAUL LYNDE SHINES IN COMEDY by Norman Dresser
While Lynde doesn’t qualify as being “the funniest man in America,” a citation he received in some phony TV awards show earlier this year, he certainly is a master at his brand of humor, which stresses the fast quip and the anguished facial expression. He’s also one of the funniest weepers around. In “Stop, Thief, Stop!” Lynde gets plenty of opportunities for fast-draw gags, agonized expressions, and riotous weeping… There are a few blue lines thrown in but, fortunately, they’re also quite witty. And few comedians can deliver a slightly off-color line with such a devilish twinkle in his eyes as Lynde. (7/22/75)

Atlanta Constitution
EVEN LYNDE CAN’T SAVE ‘STOP, THIEF” by Farnum Gray
Lynde has, basically, one comic characterization. He plays a prosperous, insecure man who seethes with feelings of persecution. For the humor to be at its maximum, the character should be in a situation in which the audience feels only the slightest sympathy for him. We like to laugh at this character because he largely deserves what he gets. Last year’s vehicle was perfect for the Lynde character. But “Stop, Thief, Stop!” has us in sympathy with Lynde, who plays a man shackled to an insufferable woman… (7/31/75)

Summer 1976

Production Manager: Alan David

Musical Director: Norman Geller

PAUL LYNDE

Roz Clark

Wayland Flowers & Madame

Mimi Hines

Philadelphia Bulletin
HINES OUTSHINES STAR LYNDE AT VALLEY FORGE by Gunter David
Paul Lynde is an actor who is at his best playing a comedy role in a play or a skit. He is not a standup comedian like Bob Hope or Johnny Carson. Unfortunately for the Paul Lynde Show, the star is cast as a standup comedian and last night he was obviously uncomfortable in the role. (6/8/76)

Chicago Tribune
PAUL LYNDE—LOTS OF SILLINESS, FEW LAUGHS by Will Leonard
Paul Lynde comes on, at Mill Run, like a Liberace without a piano, modeling pretty costumes, talking about his career, uttering epicene epigrams, inviting questions from the audience, and offering samples of the wit and wisdom from “Hollywood Squares,” his TV show for the last 10 years. This, his first concert tour, is a show of limited appeal. The smirks and the double entendres and the giggles wear out their welcome as rapidly as the wardrobe changes. Even the most devoted Lynde fan will find the comedy stretched thin… (7/76)

Elyria Chronicle Telegram
PAUL LYNDE AT FRONT ROW – NOT AS FUNNY OUTSIDE THE SQUARE by Shannon Jewell
He may be the star wit of “Hollywood Squares,” but Paul Lynde should never have left his box to make his current personal concert tour. Lynde’s monotonous monologues…destroyed the illusion he is a funny, off-the-cuff comedian… (7/27/76)

Schenectady Gazette
LYNDE CAPTURES COLISEUM AUDIENCE by Peg Churchill
When Lynde is not being warm, sincere and gushy about his public, he is being funny. It’s not so much that his lines are inherently funny, but it’s the way he says them. The knowing look, the smug smile, the slightly nasal voice, the sissified affection. (8/76)

Milwaukee Journal
LYNDE’S BAG OF JOKES MIXED by Michael H. Drew
Paul Lynde, show business’ richest professional sissy, brought his simpers, whimpers, grins and grimaces back to Uihlein Hall Tuesday night to begin a week’s run. And his astounding audience magic drew 1,850 fans for what was essentially a vaudeville revival … Such lines managed to salvage wheat had been a frequently dreary litany of old skits and new material, all, we’re told, written by the star. Paul Lynde is not the first, or biggest, comedian to mistakenly think he can dispense with his writers… (8/11/76)

Atlanta Constitution
PAUL LYNDE SHOW LIKE FLAT LEMONADE by Helen C. Smith
Sorry, Paul Lynde fans if I’m outraging you, but the very last reason I go the theater is to be bored. I’ve seen Lynde do passable jobs in some comedy roles in plays, but the format of his first personal appearance show does nothing to enhance his image. It made me squirm in my seat and wish to be elsewhere… (8/20/76)

Summer 1978

A comedy written by Bob Fisher & Arthur Marx

Director: Leslie B. Cutler

PAUL LYNDE … Dr. Jack Kingsley

Elizabeth Allen … Alice Kingsley

Brenda Cibelli ... Francine

Charles Caron ... Dr. Harold Fleischer

Danny DeNoi … Bartholomew Smuts

Paul Gerstenfeld ... Wally

Diane Gibbons … Miss Hammer

Will Kinghorn ... Andy

Valerie Landsburg … Abbey Kingsley

Doug Orear ... Ricky Fleischer

Schorling Schneider ... Dennis

Scott Stevensen ... Richard Merrick

Darleen Valentine … Linda Kingsley

Lawrence Vincent ... Arnold Brecher

Plain Dealer
LYNDE IMPOSSIBLY FUNNY by Bill Doll
Paul Lynde is at the Kenley Players this week. Need I say more? (6/22/78)

Dayton Journal Herald
‘IMPOSSIBLE’ POSSIBLE WITH YEARS by Terry Lawson
The purpose of The Impossible Years is to provide a non-taxing showcase for television comedian Paul Lynde. Lynde is a Kenley perennial and his appearances ensure sold-out audiences and satisfied customers. The patrons came to see Lynde. The play is secondary, and that, too, is a good thing… (6/28/78)

Columbus Dispatch
COMEDIAN PROVIDED HIS AUDIENCE WITH WHAT THEY WANTED – HIM by Shirley McNeely
Paul Lynde. A two-word review of Kenley Players’ The Impossible Years would probably be inadequate. But two words could handle it. Paul Lynde… (7/5/78)

Flint Journal
PAUL LYNDE HOPS TO IT WITH WHAT FANS EXPECT by James E. Harvey
The opening-night audience was clearly loaded with devoted Lyndeans, who reacted with delight to every nasal whine, clownish grimace, and outburst of blubbering they expect in a Lynde performance. The star gave them plenty of what they came for, and it could not be said that anything he did – no matter how unlikely for the character he was playing – did any harm to the play… (7/12/78)

Toledo Blade
PAUL LYNDE STEALS ‘IMPOSSIBLE YEARS’ by Norman Dresser
There’s no doubt that the man has a way with a one-liner – or no lines at all. With a simple declaration, such as “I’m appalled,” he can bring down the house. And if he doesn’t have dialogue in a scene, he simply calls up that special smirk, behind which lurks incipient hysteria, and steals the scene… It’s a funny, well-produced show. (7/19/78)

Milwaukee Journal
LYNDE AS DOCTOR REGALES FANS by Dominque Paul Noth
To say that Lynde is genuinely funny is like pointing out Telly Savalas’ baldness. At his best, Lynde has made irritability a delightful comic tone for our age. Like many noted farceurs, he is almost androgynous – as snippy as Aunt Harriet, as peevish as Grandma Jones, as nasty as Boss Tucker on Monday morning, as hung over as Uncle Jim and as blubbery as Baby Leroy. He does it again and again, and it is often disquieting to see him revel in unchallenging material and shamelessly play down to the audience. (7/25/78)

Atlanta Constitution
PAUL LYNDE KEEPS COMIC STYLE INTACT IN ‘IMPOSSIBLE YEARS’ by Helen C. Smith
Lynde is always Lynde... (8/10/78)

DON'T DRINK THE WATER

Summer 1979

A comedy written by Woody Allen

Director: Leslie B. Cutler

PAUL LYNDE … Walter Hollander

John Bentley

Charles Caron. 

Gary Cookson

Patty Dworkin 

Paul Hardy

Carol King

Barry Kleinbort

Denise Lor

George Pollock

Lawrence Vincent

Columbus Citizen Journal
ALLEN COMEDY GIVES LYNDE MEATY ROLE by Gene Gerrard
Once again, Lynde plays Lynde. But he plays himself more convincingly than any of his impersonators – including Rich Little. In fact I think he has become his own best impersonator. He is essentially a one-character personality actor with whom most of us can identify. The bumbling, fumbling, outraged victim of circumstances beyond his control—shouting to the heavens for justice and receiving no answer… (7/18/79)

Atlanta Constitution
‘DON’T DRINK THE WATER’ JUST MIGHT GIVE YOU A BELLYACHE by Helen C. Smith
Paul Lynde is not an actor. He is a computer programmed for shtick. Push his button and you get the teeth-clenched grin, signifying dismay, not joy. Push it again, and you get a picture of real despair. Can’t you tell by the way Lynde clutches his forehead and slouches in the chair and taps his inpatient foot? (8/2/79)

Indianapolis News
LYNDE ADDS SPARKLE, ZEST TO ‘WATER’ AT STARLIGHT by Charles Staff
The fact is that most of the lines aren’t really vintage Allen observations. A scattered few aren’t even Allen at all, but, one suspects, Lynde’s own. It is also a fact, however, that Lynde has a talent for making almost anything seem more amusing than it is… (8/7/79)

Summer 1980

Act III from Last of the Red Hot Lovers
Act II, Scene 2 from California Suite
Act III from Plaza Suite

Scenery Designed by Randel Wright
Lighting Designed by James Riley
Production Stage Manager: Robert Pettigrew III
Directed by Stockton Briggle

PAUL LYNDE … Barney Cashman, Marvin Michaels, Roy Hubley

Paul Barresi … Borden Eisler

Beverly Sanders … Jeanette Fisher, Millie Michaels, Norma Hubley

Kristy Syverson … Bunny, Mimsey Hubley

Atlanta Constitution
‘NEIL SIMON SUITE’ ISN’T SHOWCASE FOR LYNDE’S HUMOR by Helen C. Smith
The perennial Paul Lynde is back. Same glistening-toothy smile. Same cackling laugh that starts out heartily enough and then cascades into almost a groan of despair. Same cartoon gestures. In other words, the popular game-show man is up to his usual brand of showmanship. He hasn’t changed a bit since last year, except to add some pounds which make him look like a comic Nixon – if you can imagine Nixon looking comical. Going to see Lynde in a show is like going to Howard Johnson’s for a hot dog and chowder. You know exactly what you’ll get in advance. You either like his style of humor or you don’t. (7/31/80)

New Orleans Times Picayune
‘SUITE’ IS SWELL by Frank Gagnard
“The Neil Simon Suite” sounds like an awful idea: a touring trio of one-act excerpts from three Simon comedies, serving as a vehicle for TV’s toothy comic, Paul Lynde. Something equivalent, say, to a TV summer-replacement series. But the production playing through Sunday at the Saenger Performing Arts Center turns out to be a delightful evening – equivalent, say, to a movie “sleeper.” … “The Neil Simon Suite” liberates the performer considerably and reveals him as an actor of comic range and impeccable timing… (8/8/80)

Toronto Star
PAUL LYNDE’S MANY FANS SURE TO HAVE A GREAT TIME by David McCangha
The Neil Simon Suite is an excuse for what’s basically a one-man show. Paul Lynde will not disappoint his Hollywood Squares followers. He cavorts about the stage like a leering hound with a voice that seems to produce its own built-in double entendres. Lynde can give even the mildest of lines a naughty kick. These uncommon qualities do not make him the best performer of Simon’s solid, uncomplicated heroes… (8/27/80)