By Liana Olear In the decade that I lived in Buffalo, little did I know what an inherently funny town it was! Not only did our Buffalo buffalo turn out to buffalo Buffalo buffalo, but Ken Ludwig, Tony-award-winning playwright known for his farces, proved conclusively that (despite being like Scr anton but without the charm), it’s the rightest possible location for observing aging B-list actors on and off the stage. And Greenbelt-based MAD Theater, led by director Randy Barth, brings the maddest of energies to the zany Buffalonian shenanigans. But first, the stage is taken by the musical cabaret Wrong Turn, Right Song. The accompanist Christine Wells sets the mood for the musical journey before she even reaches her piano, and the ensemble showcases their song, dance, and even puppetry skills through a collection of Broadway favorites and jazz standards, examining wrong turns in life and the power of the right songs to transform them.  Katie Frye (Roz), James Pildis (Howard), and Eileen (Makkie McNea) in ‘Moon over Buffalo.’ Photo by Britt Griswold. After a short break, it’s 1953. The thespian duo George and Charlotte Hay are trying to hold their company together for repertory performances of Cyrano de Bergerac and Noel Coward‘s Private Lives while their own private lives are getting quite complicated.  George (Jon Gardner) finds out his one-night stand Eileen, played with wholesome girl-next-door energy by Makkie McNea, is pregnant. His wife, Charlotte (Jill Goodrich), is being wooed by the couple’s big-city lawyer, Richard, portrayed with a solid straight-man presence by Bob Singer.  Charlotte’s mother, Ethel (Joanne Breen), hard of hearing and sharp of tongue, never passes up a chance to needle George or one-up him in his own favorite roles, and Breen’s dry wit never fails to steal the scene — all while Breen is adeptly juggling three shows’ worth of costume design. Unlike the often-addled Ethel, Breen doesn’t miss a beat in either capacity.  Which takes us to the Hays’ daughter Rosalind (Katie Frye), a former actress still word-perfect on her old lines, but resolutely trying not to get sucked back into the chaotic whirlwind of theater. Roz is in town to introduce her new fiancé, Howard (James Pildis), a star-struck TV meteorologist so eager to impress that he can’t quite manage to introduce himself. Can the resulting chaos be contained by Paul (Courtney McIntosh), the optimistically earnest stage manager formerly engaged to Rosalind? Can the couple’s careers be rekindled if they impress the director Frank Capra, who is flying in from Hollywood to perhaps offer them roles in his next film? Can anyone figure out which of the two plays they are supposed to perform next? Frye’s chemistry with McIntosh looks effortless as they join forces to try to rescue the older generation from themselves, and Pildis’ comedic timing makes him one funny fish out of water.  Courtney McIntosh (Paul), Katie Frye (Roz), Jon Gardner (George), Jill Goodrich (Charlotte), Joanne Breen (Ethel), and Bob Singer (Richard) in ‘Moon over Buffalo.’ Photo by Britt Griswold. Look out, Barrymores, here come the Hays! Gardner and Goodrich are at their sweetest when George and Charlotte connect over their love of theater, which, despite plenty of mutual exasperation, is the foundation of their love for each other. They are at their funniest when the action calls for physicality, whether flamboyantly sparring over hapless Howard’s head or maneuvering the increasingly inebriated George to get him ready for the all-important Capra-attended matinee.  A good farce deserves a good set with at least five doors, and set construction team of Joel Richon and George Tansil produced the requisite parlor to enable all the comings and goings and door-slammings — and in seconds it converts to a theater ready to become a battlefield or a pair of balconies. Sound and lighting design by, respectively, Matt Lichtman and Eliot Malamuth are clean and seamless. “The theater may be dying,” Ethel muses, “but it is still breathing and it is all we’ve got. It is our lifeline to humanity.” It’s productions like this that prove that the news of the death of theater has been greatly exaggerated. Director Randy Barth aims to offer a safe space to laugh, a cathartic break from reality, and the fun had by all is self-evident and infectious.  Moon Over Buffalo plays through April 25, so don’t take a wrong turn finding the Barney Bea Recreation Center, 9998 Good Luck Rd, Greenbelt, MD. Make sure to buy tickets ($22 general admission) in advance here to present to the Goddard security guards, and enjoy a night of right songs, wrong plays, mistaken identities, wardrobe malfunctions, and shared love of theater.  Running Time: 30-minute cabaret followed by a 5-minute intermission and two hours with a 15-minute intermission. Ken Ludwig’s Moon Over Buffalo plays through April 25, 2026, presented by the Music and Drama Club (MAD Theater) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD. Purchase tickets (adult, $22; senior and military, $20; child, student, and intern, $12) online. The cast and crew are here. Ken Ludwig’s Moon Over BuffaloDirected by Randy BarthProduced by Susan Breon ...read more read less