A Steady Memoir - TheatreWorks' 'Brighton Beach Memoirs' offers talent and style
2007-05-11
Known and cherished for its selection of plays that are decidedly envelope-pushing and offbeat, TheatreWorks New Milford's current selection, the theatrical chestnut "Brighton Beach Memoirs," is something of a surprise. Equally unexpected given this company's well-earned reputation for excellence, is that this show is like a soufflé gone slightly wonky.
Despite having many of the right ingredients in place and obvious care having gone into the preparations, the final confection has somehow not risen to the level of brilliance that has been the hallmark of TheatreWorks New Milford productions of late. While there are aspects that are richly satisfying in which to delight, the whole just doesn't quite set. And yet, this is a show that deserves to be seen—a production by TheatreWorks that is merely good is better than most theatrical companies' very best efforts.
"Brighton Beach Memoirs" is the first section of prolific playwright Neil Simon's autobiographical trilogy of works centered on his stand-in, the character of Eugene Morris Jerome (Ben Grinberg). Set in 1937, the play is a nostalgic look at the life of an adolescent in a lower middle class Brooklyn neighborhood within the confines of a house packed with a loving, but somewhat oppressive, family.
Eugene's parents have taken in his prematurely widowed aunt, Blanche (Susan Abrams), and her daughters, Nora (Keilly Gillen McQuail) and Laurie (Emma Nissenbaum). One cousin has a heart flutter in her chest, while the other's burgeoning chest is making Eugene's heart flutter madly. That's because the bright, precocious would-be writer is decidedly within the throes of puberty. When not pestering his somewhat irresponsible older brother, Stanley (Thomas Mulhare), with questions about girls and their potential nudity, he is obsessing on his beloved New York Yankees or chronicling the trials and tribulations of his family — heard all too clearly through the walls of an overcrowded house — in a notebook.
Eugene has a lot about which he can write. His father, Jack (Joe Harding), is exhausting himself holding down two jobs to keep the pressures of the Great Depression at bay, while unspoken tensions simmer between his mother (M. J. Hartell) and the sister whose family she has welcomed into her home. Additionally, his cousin Nora and brother Stanley each come into conflict with their parents during the course of the play as they strive for independence, sometimes in the form of bad decisions. The family is struggling through hard times while trying — not always successfully — not to struggle against each other. While it might sound dark, the play is actually leavened with tremendous humor and warmth.
The sense of being allowed a view into the inner life of a family is beautifully echoed in the multi-level set designed by Glenn R. Couture. Intricate and stunning, the design cleverly provides the impression that the outer wall of an entire house has been quietly sliced off to reveal the workings of the family dwelling within. Painted in tones of brown and slightly hazily illuminated, the set hints that the tale told springs from memory — it is the grown-up Eugene's loving and bittersweet reflection on his adolescence.
While focusing on the Jerome clan specifically, "Brighton Beach Memoirs" delves into aspects of familial relations that are universal, particularly in its examinations of the parent and child and inter-sibling bonds. Some of the best moments in this play — those offering the frothiest comedy and the deepest emotion — center solely on the brothers Jerome. Whether uproariously discussing birds-and-bees related topics such as naked women and self-gratification, or dealing with unexpected crisis, Ben Grinberg and Thomas Mulhare capture the truth of the combination of exasperation and admiration so often felt by siblings for one another. Together they are quite riveting.
In the role that won a young Matthew Broderick a 1983 Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Play, Mr. Grinberg — so brilliant earlier this season as the teenaged Charlie Brown in "Dog Sees God" — provides another nuanced portrait of an adolescent with entirely different shadings than the contemporary neurotic that he previously essayed. Energetic and appealing, he demonstrates again that he is a talent to watch. One quibble, however, is that his New York accent seems to wander to the city by way of Boston when it wanders in at all, but this does not detract from his otherwise solid work.
His cast mate from "Dog Sees God" Keilly Gillen McQuail, has previously displayed tremendous comedic ability, particularly as Little Sally in last season's delightfully demented musical "Urinetown." "Brighton Beach Memoirs" gives this performer her first opportunity to reveal her strength as a dramatic actress, taking a role that could be thankless or shrill in the wrong hands and lending it vulnerability and presence.
The standout performance is delivered by Joe Harding, also memorable from "Urinetown" for his sonorous voice and gleeful villainy as Caldwell B. Cladwell. As the Jerome family patriarch, Mr. Harding is a centering force, both within the family and the cast. He holds the audience's attention from the moment. Jack Jerome arrives home from work, moving as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders. Whether gently advising his niece about her future on the stoop of their home, or recalling a beloved older brother lost to his family in the First World War, he is nothing less than compelling. The latter scene is, in fact, one of the strongest in the play, perhaps because it resonates so strongly in the current climate with so many families again losing brothers, husbands and sons in a far-away war. The contemporary relevance and the splendid acting give it additional power and pull.
In the end "Brighton Beach Memoirs" is only a qualified success for TheatreWorks New Milford, but that is only because they have set their own standards so supremely high through the exceptional quality of past productions. This play is an established classic and the company has executed it well, but somehow it simply doesn't demonstrate what TheatreWorks does best. Its forte seems to be more difficult, more unusual and more contemporary theater, such as the hilariously surreal and sublime pseudo-Brechtian "Urinetown," or the alternately bawdy and moving English Restoration-set play "Compleat Female Stage Beauty" with its fascinating examination of gender and identity. Undoubtedly, their next production, the wild and wicked musical "Reefer Madness," will show a return to form and soar to giddy heights.
In the meantime, there is no question that passing an evening with the Jerome family in Brighton Beach is a most enjoyable experience for anyone who loves a more traditional form of American theater and who wants to see it performed with talent and style.