'Foreigner' welcome

Critic Timothy Hedgepeth hails the Madison Repertory Theatre production of The Foreigner. 'So good is their collective work in this comedy that the Rep's company may very well spend the rest of 1987 trying to equal it,' he writes. At the production's center, in the role of the shy title character, is Michael Herold (right), 'perfectly cast...with the sort of sweet face and affability that, as the Georgians say, could charm the husk right off the corn. His acrobatics, both vocal and physical, are impressive, and in his quieter moments, he's kind of a Stan Laurel meets Ma and Pa Kettle.' The supporting cast includes Mark Lazar (left), 'appropriately disgusting as a red-neck cracker who makes even the goons from Deliverance look intelligent.' Now a fixture on the Milwaukee stage, Herold can be seen in Milwaukee Repertory Theater's current production of They Came From Way Out There. Since 1999, Lazar has been a member of the resident ensemble at the People's Light & Theatre Company outside Philadelphia.