San Diego actor Dennis Peters has become a familiar face in recent years playing secondary roles at local theaters. But in Scripps Ranch Theatre’s “Fully Committed,” Peters has found the perfect breakout role to showcase his talents.
Over 90 fast-paced minutes, Peters plays some 40 different characters in Becky Mode’s 2000 comedy about an overwhelmed reservations clerk at a top Manhattan restaurant that’s always booked three months out.
Not only do all of the characters — a mix of mostly insufferable restaurant staff, eccentric callers demanding tables, family and more — have distinct voices, accents and mannerisms, but Peters switches flawlessly between them at breakneck speed. However, the real power in Peters’ performance is how he plays the principal role of Sam.
Sam is a struggling New York actor who has recently broken up with his boyfriend and gradually lost his self-esteem so he allows others to walk all over him. But over the course of the play, Peters takes his amiable character on a credible journey toward newfound confidence, initiative and assertiveness. I’ve see “Fully Committed” performed by three different actors over the years, and it’s Peters’ portrayal of his character’s dramatic arc that really stands out.
Ted Leib meticulously directed the entertaining production which makes good use of Dixon Fish’s authentically detailed restaurant basement, where Sam shuffles constantly between two desks, two laptops and four different phones. Leib also designed sound and Deanna Trethewey designed lighting.
Mode’s play amusingly spoofs the snooty Manhattan fine-dining scene. The cruel and controlling chef makes dishes like codfish foam and bubbling crock of head cheese, and the French maître d secretly disdains his wealthy diners. Among the most amusing callers Sam chats with during his daylong shift are Bryce, the cheery personal assistant to the insanely demanding Gwyneth Paltrow; a mafioso who wants “The Lady is a Tramp” sung at his table that evening; an angry editor from Bon Appétit magazine; and a furious, ultra-rich society women who will stop at nothing to get a table.
‘Fully Committed’
When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Through Sept. 29
Where: Scripps Ranch Theatre at Legler Benbough Theatre, Alliant International University, 9783 Avenue of Nations, San Diego
Tickets: $29-$49
Phone: (858) 395-0573
Online: scrippsranchtheatre.org
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