Goodman's unfunny 'Upstairs Concierge' farce falls short

One thing about “The Upstairs Concierge,” it deepens one's appreciation for great farce.

Not because it is one. The play by Kristoffer Diaz, a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist for “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity,” is kind of a mess.

Preposterous, puerile and puzzling, “The Upstairs Concierge” purposes to send up celebrities and the folks who worship them, but fails as both comedy and social commentary.

Goodman Theatre's world premiere, under director KJ Sanchez, did accomplish a couple of things over the course of 75 disappointing minutes. It rekindled my admiration for great farceurs such as Georges Feydeau, Alan Ayckbourn and Michael Frayn. And it confirmed just how difficult it is to write a fine farce.

Commissioned by Goodman and Teatro Vista, where Diaz is a playwright-in-residence, “Concierge” took shape over three years, during which it received a developmental production as part Goodman's 2013 New Stages Festival. Monday's opening of the play, which features an indefatigable cast who spend most of their time racing up and down stairs, suggests revisions are in order for this show, which is not ready for Dearborn Street. Not in its current form.

The action unfolds in The Hotelman Arms, a new boutique Chicago hotel whose Prairie-style interior comes courtesy of set designer Todd Rosenthal. Owned by Jeffrey Hotelman (Cedric George) and his wife, Dia (Mia Park), the hotel caters to celebrities who have at their beck and call the supremely qualified concierge Ella. She's played by the quicksilver, charismatic Tawny Newsome, a Second City veteran who knows how to deliver a punchline and who deserves a better showcase.

The guests include celebrity blogger BB (Jose Antonio Garcia). Modeled after Perez Hilton, BB is the ex-lover of Dia, who's eager to resume their affair. Novelist Shivery Delicious (Sandra Delgado) arrives seeking inspiration for her next best-seller, which infatuated bellhop Harvey (Gabriel Ruiz) is eager to provide.

Lastly, there's Rebecca Oaxaca (Alejandra Escalante), a YouTube star and a skilled bunter poised to break baseball's gender barrier. She's being courted by several major league teams, including Chicago's own, as well as John Stokvis' amorous bellboy Kaz. Also in pursuit of the female baseball phenom is New York Yankees scout Mark Merriman (Theo Allyn) and a representative from the Houston Astros, a likable nebbish played by Travis Turner.

One of problems with the play is its characters, especially the demanding D-listers — quirky but unappealing types who definitely don't merit VIP treatment. A celebrity blogger? Really? A bunter? My colleague, devoted Cub fan Burt Constable, informs me that major league teams don't covet players with that particular skill. As for writers, they fall somewhere behind fading 1960s pop stars in the celebrity hierarchy, making the fuss over Shivery not at all credible.

Murky motives, nonsensical plot threads and a baffling set that places Ella's bedroom in the middle of the lobby, don't help. And while Diaz's writing here shows flashes of wit, not enough of it is on display in this unfunny farce, which relies for laughs on lame jokes (Hotelman, get it? He's the proprietor of a hotel?), naked characters (almost everyone ends up in their underwear) and the inexplicable delusion that mistakes bathrobes for polar bear costumes.

Equally disappointing is Diaz's pandering to the hometown crowd with nods to Chicago sports teams, beloved broadcasters, Divvy bikes and Garrett Popcorn. Count “Star Wars,” Michael Jackson and Taylor Swift among the paint-by-number pop culture references that are either too dated or overdone to generate laughs.