Marilyn and Brian Dwyer must have thought their 29-year-old son was playing an April Fool’s joke on them when he called from Pennsylvania to report the birth of their grandson on April 14.
The Dwyers, who live in Liverpool on Balsam Street, heard him report that the newborn, Waldo James Mysterious Dwyer, weighed 13 pounds and 8 ounces.
Waldo weighed what?
That’s right: 13 lbs. 8 oz.!
The son of Brian Jr. and Danielle Dwyer was born April 14, and officials at Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill, Penn., say Waldo is the largest baby they can ever remember being delivered there.
The median birth weight for boys is just less than 8 pounds, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And Waldo, who was two weeks past due and was delivered by Caesarean section, exceeded that average by more than 5 pounds.
“He had a little extra time in there to cook, to grow,” his mom, Danielle Dwyer, told a reporter.
Waldo’s story has been transmitted worldwide via ABC-TV news, Fox News and Canadian TV.
The parents named their son Waldo because as children they enjoyed the “Where’s Waldo” books. The middle name, Mysterious, as chosen because Waldo was born under a blood red lunar eclipse on April 14, 2014, a date that reads the same forward and backward.
You can understand why Britain’s Daily Mail called Brian and Danielle a “quirky couple.” Brian is a co-owner of Pizza Brain, a popular pizzeria in Fishtown, Penn., which also features a pizza museum.
Winter winners
A couple of follow-ups to stories you saw here first:
Six Nichols Supermarket patrons correctly guessed the date that the big snow piles would melt in the old municipal parking lot on lower First Street. The icy mountains finally disappeared April 24. The winner of the promised $150 Nichols’ gift card was Shauna Warren, whose name was drawn from among the six names placed in a hat.
Meanwhile, a bit further west on First Street, former Mayor Jon Zappola reports that three of the five robins’ eggs he found in a nest in the family Christmas wreath have hatched. “So we’ve got two more to go,” Jon said.
‘Scoundrels’ scores
The con is on when two disparate gigolos compete for the affections —and assets — of wealthy women on the French Riviera, in the Baldwinsville Theatre Guild’s musical production, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” which opened April 25.
This musical version of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” was first produced on Broadway in 2004, and it was based on the 1988 movie of the same name starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine.
Because it’s a comedy, the play’s scammers’ implausible pretenses suggest whimsy rather than debauchery. Under the direction of Trevor Hill, two strong lead actors are ably supported by a lively ensemble to deliver a thoroughly delightful evening of entertainment.
Veteran actor Rob Searle stars as suave and sleek playboy Lawrence Jameson who’s challenged by the green and grating newcomer Freddy Benson portrayed by Maxwel Anderson, one of CNY’s bright new lights.
It’s stock comedy — think city slicker vs. country bumpkin — but these two milk it for all it’s worth and then some. Anderson’s devil-may-care character gets a few more laughs than Searle’s smooth operator, but their complementary natures are what really make the show go.
Jameson sums it all up when he assesses Freddy. “What you lack in grace,” he observes, “you make up for in vulgarity.”
A true-love subplot brings Jameson’s French valet, Andre, into the boudoir of the dowager Muriel Eubanks. Jay Burris portrays Andre while Kathy Egloff plays Muriel. Burris displays a deft sense of humor singing “Chimp in a Suit,” while Egloff’s crystalline voice adds pathos to “What Was a Woman to Do?” Together, Burris and Egloff consummate their characters’ relationship with “Like Zis/Like Zat,” a carefree ditty that inspires smiles on every face.
As “The American Soap Queen” Christine Colgate, Jennifer Pearson makes good use of her sensational soprano to declare “Nothing is Too Wonderful to be True.”
An unexpected highlight of the show comes midway through Act 1 when redheaded Juli Mosley appears as ditzy Okie oil heiress Jolene Oakes, one of Jameson’s marks. Searle and Mosley sing a spirited duet on “Oklahoma?”
“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” continues at the First Presbyterian Education Center, 64 Oswego St., in B’ville at 8 p.m. Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3 and at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 4; and at 8 p.m. May 9 and 10. Tickets cost $25 at the door, $22 in advance, and $20 for seniors at the May 4 matinee only; 877-8465; baldwinsvilletheatreguild.org.
