New England Entertainment Digest (NEED) - December 2005
Our Town - New England Repertory Co.

In 2002, Father Bullock of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Sharon (MA) asked director/actor Mike Kiernan to stage Thornton Wilder's Our Town as part of an upcoming centennial celebration of the church. Kiernan agreed to stage the Pulitzer Prize-winning play. He also agreed to assume the role of the Stage manager, the omnipresent narrator who weaves the tapestry that becomes Grover's Corners, New Hampshire with the people living there.

The play takes place in the cozy sanctuary of the church with a black backdrop and a stark, black thrust stage. A few chairs and two flower trellises are moved on and off the stage by actors. This setting allows the audience to focus on the actors without distraction.

The director called on members of the New England Repertory Company for casting both principal characters and townspeople. Bob Emery is Dr. Gibbs with Dawn Tucker as his wife. Both play their roles with sensitivity and Michael Duncan Smith is an appealing George Gibbs. Brendan Rogers plays the town news editor Mr. Webb and Anne Gardner is Mrs. Webb and they do justice to their roles. Daughter, Emily, is exquisitely played by Jocelyn Winzer. Kiernan is grand as the Stage Manager who moves the story along smoothly - as smooth as the pantomime used by the actors throughout the play, adding another dimension gracefully.

Act I: Daily Life gives a picture of all the little moments that add up to a typical day in Grover's Corners. Act II: Love and Marriage moves back and forth in time with George and Emily as high school students enjoying an ice cream soda and the day of their wedding. In Act III: Life and Death takes us to nine years later. We find ourselves in the town cemetery. George is weeping at Emily's grave. Emily died during childbirth, but is given a chance to relive one day. She chooses her 12th birthday, the one day on earth that makes her realize that all of the cherished memories, no matter how small, that become part of the tapestry of life.

The staging, with players all around, brought us to Grover's Corners and we were one with the good people living in this small town. We are richer for the two hours we lived there. Leaving the church, we took with us the lessons learned from the extraordinary pen of Thornton Wilder and applaud his receiving the Pulitzer.

CARL ROSSI BELIEVES IN THE AMERICAN DREAM

THE AMERICAN DREAM - by Edward Albee, directed by Mike Kiernan

The humorist Fran Liebowitz once quipped that the girl who suggests Ionesco’s THE BALD SOPRANO for the senior class play will be a thorn in everyone’s flesh for the rest of her life; my own choice, at eighteen, had been Edward Albee’s THE AMERICAN DREAM which was promptly rejected for being far too provocative --- after seeing it performed, over thirty years later, by the New England Repertory Company, I’m happy to report that this little Absurdist comedy still gives a few gooses: a domineering Mommy and an emasculated Daddy wait in their living room for the arrival of a Mrs. Barker.

While Mommy verbally abuses Daddy, Grandma wanders in with brown-paper packages tied up with string, complaining about what it means to be old, nowadays; she represents the bedrock virtues of hard work and decency being eroded by the heartlessness and materialism embodied by her daughter. Mrs. Barker, an extremely busy chairwoman, arrives without a clue as to the nature of her visit but Grandma fills her in: years ago, Mrs. Barker sold Mommy and Daddy a bumble (i.e. baby) which died soon after various mutilations and now Mommy demands satisfaction.

A beautiful, emotionally numb Young Man enters, looking for work; under Grandma’s instructions, Mrs. Barker offers this ‘American Dream’ to Mommy and Daddy as a bumble-compensation. Mommy is pleased with the transaction -- she has received (and, no doubt, will be getting) satisfaction. Grandma quietly quits the scene with her packages but re-appears to draw the play to a close just as Mommy mentions that her new son somehow seems familiar.

THE AMERICAN DREAM, one of Mr. Albee’s earlier works, foreshadows the embattled married couple to which he would often return and, judging by THE PLAY ABOUT THE BABY, Mr. Albee never lost his dry-ice sense of humor -- the humor of an Outsider -- nor his weird playfulness that keeps him from bogging down. What a pity that he never collaborated with Mr. Sondheim -- a mordant Gilbert for a tortured Sullivan.

I was curious as to how Mike Kiernan would stage THE AMERICAN DREAM which is very much a product of Cold War repression, the scouring Black Humorists and Phillip Wylie’s famous attack on the American Mother -- you’ll find today’s Mommy in the boardroom rather than at home -- not to mention all that talk about women’s hats. Happily, Mr. Kiernan has directed in period but with a shift in tone: Bob Emery, an actor of quiet authority, is a tolerant Daddy, full of "yes, dear" superiority which, in turn, reduces Dawn Tucker’s Mommy to a horrid little girl though Ms. Tucker locks into Mr. Albee’s satire more so than her fellow actors (her looks can stop you in your tracks).

On the afternoon I attended, Mr. Kiernan announced a last-minute cast replacement for Grandma and that Meg Quin (see below) would be going on, holding book. Given the circumstances, Ms. Quin offered enough of a spry old characterization and, to her credit, rarely had to check her lines --- she should be off book in time for the closing performances. Christopher Staley makes an overly preening Young Man, quite pleased with his own yumminess, and the statuesque Jocelyn Winzer is visually stunning as a dim-witted Mrs. Barker, not unlike the fashion plates that vaudeville clowns drooled over; when Ms. Winzer removes her dress to parade about in her slip and pearls, vaudeville gives way to erotic burlesque. (Insert wolf-whistle, here.)

Mr. Albee’s comedy is preceded by his sketch FAM AND YAM, an encounter between two American playwrights, one Famous, one Young, which ends in a punch line at the elder’s expense and Jane Martin’s TWIRLERS, a monologue delivered by a fanatically devoted baton twirler. Jeff Swaebe makes a very jolly Fam in his cups and Rocky Graziano is hyper-cheeky as his rival Yam. Ms. Quin gives a mini tour-de-force as the Twirler, her power emanating from her standing stock still and gradually letting her audience know how gaga her character really is which points up how the others tend to wander about without style or purpose as if the balance between word and action must always be observed. If Mr. Kiernan could plant the Messrs. Emery and Swaebe in their respective chairs, for starters, things would thicken and grow, considerably.

(Director's note: A medical emergency precluded Meg Quin from performing on the second weekend. In her place, Nicole DeRosa played the character of the twirler and Lynn Latham performed Grandma in "American Dream.")

CAST


THE AMERICAN DREAM
by Edward Albee
directed by Mike Kiernan
Mommy: Dawn Tucker
Daddy: Bob Emery
Grandma: Meg Quin
Mrs. Barker: Jocelyn Winzer
Young Man: Christopher Staley

FAM & YAM
by Edward Albee
Fam: Jeff Swaebe
Yam: Rocky Graziano

TWIRLER
by Jane Martin
The Twirler: Meg Quin

HOUSTON CHRONICLE GIVES IT UP FOR NEW YORK

From a review by Kimberlane Aessandro in the Houston Chronicle, Oct 30, 2002.

Lost In Yonkers Worth Discovering

Mansfield - We love New York.. We can't help it. Even before that silly ad campaign where the ever catchy "I Love New York" slogan was sung by famous and not so famous voices, we have been in love with the city that never sleeps. It's the icon of American wealth and the jewel in her cultural crown. It's also the home of one of America's most beloved playwrights, Neil Simon, whose 1991 Pulitzer Price and Tony Award winning play, "Lost in Yonkers" is playing at Mansfield Music and Arts Society in Mansfield. Performed by members of New England Repertory Company, this play is an absolute must see on all counts. Simon has never been a favorite of mine, but this play made me sit up and take notice. The premise is simple: What happens when children are raised unloved? What kind of adults do they become when parents show them no affection? These questions are eagerly discussed today, but during the play's setting, World War II, child psychiatry was as unexplored as our Milky Way. In "Yonkers " we meet Eddie, father of Jay and Arty, shortly after his wife dies. Eddie is in trouble with a loan shark because he cannot pay back the money he borrowed to pay for his wife's lost battle with cancer. The war is on, and Eddie can make enough money to pay back the loan shark by selling scrap metal.

Cold, hard grandmother

Problem is, the job requires travel and he needs someone to care for his young teenage sons. He asks his estranged mother to do so. Grandmother Kurnitz is a hard, cold woman who punished Eddie and the rest of the children for small infractions by locking them in closets and hitting them for crying. The boys are terrified of her and she rejects the idea of caring for them until her live-in daughter, the slow witted Bella, convinces them all that having the boys stay would be best for all concerned. During the play we meet Louie and Gert, Eddie and Bella's other siblings, who have also grown into fractured adults due to their mother's cold teachings. It's a powerful play, but it is not without its lighter moments. Think "All in the Family" for the 1940s. As Eddie, Brian Kelly does a great job of portraying a man too weak to oppose his domineering mother but strong enough to face her for the sake of his sons. His scenes with his boys are touching and genuine and I could feel his desperation in his scenes with his mother. Vincent DelSignore's turn as the "straight-man" Jay and Danny McSweeney's portrayal of "funny-man" Arty are superb. Much of the play rests on the shoulders of these actors, and they don't disappoint. They are comfortable as brothers with each other and have the familial feeling with the characters Aunt Bella and Uncle Louie as well, successfully translating their situation to the audience. These boys are wonderful.

Challenge met

As Bella, Kelly Crawford (president of MMAS) gives a stand-out performance. Her Bella is sweet and child-like, just as Simon wrote her. Crawford will make you laugh out loud and make your heart ache for her Bella in all the right spaces. Crawford puts just the right spin on her comedic lines and just the right amount of emotion on her poignant ones without ever being silly or overly dramatic. It's a hugely challenging role and Crawford masters it. Alice Springer plays the formidable matriarch of this dysfunctional family, Grandmother Kurnitz. Even the lack of a first name for her character should give the audience an idea of how tough this woman is. Springer plays the steel-hearted woman perfectly: She convincingly gives those around her no quarter regardless of their relation to her or their age. It's hard to imagine this character even being real, yet Springer makes this character real.

Mob man supplies humor

As Uncle Louie, Jim Martin is superb. Uncle Louie is a wise-cracking bag man for the mob who has a heart of gold. He's the only one in the family who does not fear his mother. He stands up to her with gusto and forms a winning rapport with his nephews. Martin also provides many of the evening's funny moments. As Aunt Gert, Cindy Ballard does a wonderful job with the limited amount of stage time that her character has. Ballard successfully fleshes out a great character and makes the unlikely Gert very convincing. Expertly directed in MMAS' small Black Box Theatre by Mike Kiernan, on an impossibly large and impressive set designed by Gary Poholek, "Lost in Yonkers" is a best bet for great entertainment for audiences in their teens and older.

CAST


LOST IN YONKERS
By Neil Simon

Starring
Cindy Ballard, Kelly Crawford, Vincent DelSignore, Brian Kelly, Jim Martin, Danny McSweeney, Alice Springer