Stinkin’ Rich

Stinkin’ Rich, a hilarious new play, takes its plot from Moliere’s 17th century farce, The Miser. Cleverly and charmingly adapted by Henry Woronicz, the story has been set in New York City in 1929, an age of soaring optimism and a soaring stock market, a time when young people danced the Charleston and reveled in the jazz age. Pepped with anachronisms, this show may take place in the 1920’s, but it has a decidedly 21st century point of view. Harper, a skinflint whose love of wealth outweighs his love for his children, is a man who would throw a dinner party for eight, but to save money, serve only enough food for six. His daughter, Alice, is in love with Valentine, a young man of wealthy parentage separated from his family and working as a secretary in her father’s house. Harper’s son, Clayton, has fallen for Mary, a young girl who works in a Starbucks-like coffee establishment. Just as Alice and Clayton decide to tell their stingy father of their engagement, Harper reveals that he has decided to remarry. The ensuing farce is helped by some oddball characters, including Rose, a brassy and sassy marriage broker; Fletcher, Clayton’s friend who is forever concocting get-rich-quick schemes; and Jacques, a rough-and-tumble French chef who secretly plans the downfall of the bourgoise.