Show People

It’s true that there are no people like show people, but the talented cast saddled with Paul Weitz’s Off Broadway play certainly aren’t the luckiest people in the world. Marnie and Jerry (a sly Debra Monk and boisterous Lawrence Pressman) are married journeymen stage actors hired to impersonate the upper-crust parents of wealthy computer whiz Tom (Ty Burrell), in the hopes of impressing his intended fiancée (Judy Greer). The brisk first act vacillates between plot twists involving Greer’s character — who also is not who she appears to be — and one-liners that Monk and Greer make zing. But by the second half, Show collapses under the weight of its drawn-out premise and an attempt to outwit the audience for a preposterous finale. Weitz has proven he can meld comedy and drama on stage (in last season’s Privilege) and the big screen (About a Boy and American Pie), yet those skills falter here. In the end, there’s a lot of talk, but not much Show. (Tickets: Call 212-246-4422 or visit SecondStageTheatre.com)