I laughed heartily and sometimes uncontrollably at the Stardust Dinner Theatre’s latest production, “A Tribute to Sanford & Son,” which re-creates three episodes of the classic 1970s sitcom.
Rufus Malone Jr., the actor/comedian who plays Fred Sanford in the show, is perfectly cast and hilarious.
I could barely take my eyes off Malone throughout the show. His timing, phrasing and reactions are priceless. He does the late Redd Foxx proud, whether filling his coffee cup with Ripple wine or doing one of Fred’s trademark “Elizabeth, I’m coming to join you!” fake heart attacks.
While Keith Porter doesn’t physically resemble Demond Wilson, the actor who played Fred’s son Lamont on the TV series, he is a sturdy and energetic comic foil to Malone throughout the show, while sporting a bad Afro wig and disco duds.
And Mercedes Littell is formidably funny as the tough and no-nonsense Aunt Esther, who fearlessly faces off against Fred. “Who you calling ugly, sucka?” she declares at one point. Later, she says, “Fred Sanford, you’re a vile heathen!”
Beyond the comical performances, it helps that “Sanford & Son” was such a sturdily written show. The jokes and situations hold up all these years later, and the lack of political correctness at times makes things even more amusing.
In the first episode, Lamont has landed the title role of Shakespeare’s play “Othello,” and invites a woman to the house to rehearse, much to Fred’s suspicion — and then Fred and his buddy Grady (Canton firefighter Antoine Williams, making his stage debut) show up when Lamont and his actor friend are in a questionable position.
In the second episode, Fred and his pals are depressed following the death of their friend Junior Cooper, so they decide to throw themselves a little party with Fast Fanny (played with comic flair by the show’s director Kathy Lewis Snyder), a topless waitress from the bowling alley (she remains clothed), and her friends. There is an extended dance sequence here with the fellas — Williams, Willis Gordon as Rollo and Ross Rhodes as Fred — each cutting a rug that is hilarious.
The final episode has an old friend of Fred’s from St. Louis — sharp-dressed player Gordon — showing up and claiming to be Lamont’s real father, riling up both Fred and Esther.
The show is staged in a banquet room at Tozzi’s On 12th. It’s not a super-polished production, more like skits, but it works for the material
