It’s been talked about in every talkback, but no harm giving another mention here to the commendable perseverance and ingenuity of the company–directors, designers, stage management, actors, and especially Mr. Todd Denning, in dealing with and integrating Todd’s injury into our show.

On a slick morning during the first week of rehearsal, Todd fell outside his home and broke his leg, the fibula, down there in the ankle region.  Almost without fail, Todd would say in talkbacks it was his “tribute to Joe Thiesmann,” which would always result in the sound of crickets at student matinee talkbacks, but seriously, if you’ve never seen the Washington quarterback’s 1985 injury at the hands of Lawrence Taylor, check it out.  Especially if you like watching horrifyingly gruesome leg breaks.

Anyway, Todd has profusely thanked the company for allowing him to stay in the show, and I for one am thankful too–I can’t imagine another super-oily smooth-talkin’ Iachimo at this point, and the clever adaptations necessitated by the injury actually added depth and dimension to the character.  A fly custom wheelchair was built, a covering for Todd’s massive walking boot was added to his costume along with a nifty cane, and stategic moments of unexpected standing were worked into his scenes to make the Italian master manipulator even more creepy, yet logically a guy that people might trust or  underestimate long enough for him to gain the upper hand on them.

Now, his cast off, Todd has to remember to act the limp from time to time, and we no longer get to see the enormous lucha libre-lookin’ boot cover, but his Iachimo stands (ah. ah.) as an excellent performance that overcame obstacles by integrating them.  Dig it.