The play is also, in part, a social commentary on the corrosive nature of the media and the lure of fame; a musical comedy in which the characters directly address the audience; and a black comedy with tragic elements. 

The context of the play is Pope Paul VI's visit to Yankee Stadium on Oct. 4, 1965, an effort to stop the war in Vietnam.  It tells the story of Artie Shaughnessy, an attendant in New York's Central Park Zoo who dreams of becoming a songwriter. 

His wife, who is mentally unstable, realizes his efforts are mediocre, or worse; his mistress, while suspecting the same, pushes him to contact a childhood friend, now a famous Hollywood director, to finagle a job writing music for the movies. 

In the meantime, Artie's son, Ronnie, a soldier who is AWOL from Fort Dix, is secretly preparing to blow up His Holiness at Yankee Stadium in his own attempt to seek immortality. 

There is pathos and humor in Howard Hurwitz's performance as Artie, a man driven to seek fame but bogged down in domestic responsibilities.  We sense Artie's tenderness for his wife, which makes the play's end all the more heartbreaking.  What's less clear is what draws Artie to his mistress, or really what kind of person he is beyond his distorted dreams. 

It can't be easy to play Bunny Flingus, the aggressive girlfriend who tries to map out Artie's divorce and rise to fame and whose sexiness resides in her cooking ability.  In a wig that's less convincing than her New York accent, Melissa Markovic gets Bunny's mean side, but doesn't make the most of her humor. 

There isn't a false note in the performance of Daphin Bowman as Bananas Shaugnessy, the wife who's genuinely mad in a funny and touching way, yet is the most perceptive person in the play. 

Ira Rappaport makes the most of his role as director Billy Einhorn -- his groaning grief over his two dead girlfriends; his bluster; and his ability to control people's lives with the commodities Artie lacks -- fame and money.  Jason Rosnick, as Ronnie, also plays to good effect the character's possible hereditary insanity and thwarted theatrical talent.  His debut performance is a dynamic one. 

With her raised eyebrows and voice, and malapropisms due to the character's secret deafness, Kristine Robinson is as adorable as a talking doll in the part of Corrinna Stroller, Hollywood starlet. 

Mary Warner is equally appealing as the youngest nun, who has been "seduced" away from a life in the church by Billy's money.  Cynthia Lindsey as the head nun, and Helen Szollosy as the second nun, are hilarious as they commandeer Artie's apartment and TV to catch a glimpse of the pope. 

Matt James and Jon Rooney double-up in the smaller roles of the bartenders and of the Man in White (from the psychiatric center) and MP, respectively. 

Light design is by Phil Replogle; costumes are by Meg Davis and set construction by Steve Hodgson and the cast and crew. 

The production, directed by Wayne Loper, is true to the play's complexity, leaving one with a disturbingly sad feeling after the laughter has evaporated.