Texas 'Tuna' has home at Show Palace

By Barbara Fredricksen, Times staff writer
Published August 30, 2007

If you go
Greater Tuna opens Friday and runs through Sept. 23 at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, 16128 U.S. 19, Hudson. Dinner and show, $44; show only, $32.95; ages 12 and younger, $26.45 and $21.45, all plus tax and tip. Call (727) 863-7949 in west Pasco; toll-free elsewhere 1-888-655-7469.

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Matthew McGee and Candler Budd, the actors behind the successful The Big Bang at American Stage and The Odd Couple at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, are at it again.

This time, McGee and Budd are 20 characters in the comedy Greater Tuna, the story of Texas' third smallest town, where "the Lions Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies."

McGee and Budd say they have wanted to do the show since their college days in Georgia.

The play is a series of intertwining stories about the denizens of tiny Tuna, linked by radio announcers Thurston Wheelis (McGee) and Arles Struvie (Budd), who sprawl at a table before their imaginary microphones chewing on the day's news from Tuna and the rest of the world, but only as it relates to Tuna.

As the stories unfold, the actors glide backstage and emerge as new characters.

"There's an awful lot of good stuff in the show," McGee said. "Some is sinister, some is heart-breaking." But it's all in good fun.

McGee and Budd are well-known for their crowd-pleasing comedic riffs, but McGee says they've vowed to remain true to the script by Joe Sears, Jaston Williams and Ed Howard.

"These are great writers who really created something special," McGee said.

[Last modified August 28, 2007, 17:33:35]