Explanation is in order. Bernard (Matt Walton), an American architect, is the only person who lives in the apartment full time. A swinging bachelor with a Hugh Hefner mentality, he has managed to convince each of the three — Gloria (Heather Parcells), Gabriella (Brynn O’Malley) and Gretchen (Anne Horak) — that she is his fiancée.

He does this with two secret weapons. One is his careful monitoring of the departure and arrival schedules of Trans World Airlines, Alitalia and Lufthansa. The other is the cooperation of his perpetually appalled housekeeper, Berthe. Not only does she have to switch the photographs in the bedroom each time one woman leaves and another is due; she also has to change the menus. The American is partial to pancakes with ketchup.

We must pause here to applaud the unfailingly superb Beth Leavel as Berthe. On Broadway, she has been unforgettable in “The Drowsy Chaperone” (her Tony Award-winning role), warm and lovely in “Elf” and by far the best thing onstage in “Baby It’s You!” last year.

To find her in this role is a little unsettling. A lyric from Stephen Sondheim’s song “Broadway Baby” keeps coming to mind: “Heck, I’d even play the maid to be in a show.” Ms. Leavel is too good for this, but she has clearly chosen not to think so, giving a standout vanity-free comic performance, complete with ridiculous French accent and pratfalls revealing old-fashioned underwear.

“Boeing-Boeing” is a pratfall kind of comedy. (Still, it would have been nice if the


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