Braithwaite's 'First Impressions' at Hedgerow

Before reviewing Hedgerow Theatre's production of

First Impressions

, the second public airing of actor Tony Braithwaite's Rich Little fetish, I gotta ask: Have you heard the one about Ronald Reagan? The one where he's really forgetful? Oh, you have? How about Ross Perot and his crazy homespun aphorisms? Remember those? And you got the Rich Little reference? Perfect. Buy a ticket and grab a seat; Braithwaite has been waiting patiently for you, dusting off his Andy Rooney, shining up his Winston Churchill.

Last time around, at Act II Playhouse, the show ran a little longer, its material spread thinner. Here, Braithwaite, cheerful sidekick Howie Brown, and piano accompanist Gina Giachero (a slightly less exuberant substitution for the show's composer and original pianist, Alex Bechtel) blitz through the late-20th-century personality parade in about an hour. Braithwaite mixes his impressions cabaret-style, with song parodies (Bill Clinton gives 'em the old razzle-dazzle), corny comic vignettes (the White House press corps is populated by the likes of "Hugh Rethra, from the Prostate Examiner"), audience participation, and a few anecdotes. While Braithwaite's real-life presidential-encounter trifecta remains my favorite bit, the man can do a pretty good Robin Williams as well as a solid Joan Rivers, though his Barack Obama, a new addition, still needs some work.

Braithwaite knows how to win over a room, and aside from his significant work as an actor-about-town, he assumes the annual anchor seat at 1812 Productions' holiday show, the current-events satire This Is the Week That Is. He has helmed two solo tribute shows. One, Rupert Holmes' Say Goodnight, Gracie, toasts George Burns; the other, Look Mom, I'm Swell, honors Braithwaite's mother and his incipient love of professional mimicry. And, most recently, he reassembled the Act II Braithwaite/Brown/Bechtel power trio for a February run of Heeere's Tony!, a nightly talk show complete with monologue and musical guests.

So you can probably sense a theme here. This is the right show for the right demographic, and Braithwaite, born roughly 25 years too late for his own aspirational heyday, has a true fondness for entertainers of the Sullivan/Carson era. The dedication with which he carries that smoldering flame will not be lost on a similarly appreciative crowd.