“Rave Review”
By Josie Reid
If you haven’t seen the current
production at Little Theatre on the Bay yet, you must go. You
have one more weekend to see it and it is worth every cent of
the admission price. The show is “Broadway Bound” directed by
Byrell Justice and is the third play in the trilogy by Neil
Simon which centers upon the fictional character Eugene Morris
Jerome. Eugene is an autobiographical character embodying Neil
Simon in his early day.
Byrell has directed all three
installments of the play at Little Theatre on the Bay and has
used an ensemble cast. It makes the “Eugene and Stanley”
characters very believable, because you have watched them grow
up on that stage over a period of 3 or 4 years.
I didn’t get a chance to see the
show opening weekend, due to conflicts, so Jeanne Woods and I
saw it Friday night of the second weekend. The set is
fantastic. Well, of course I would notice the set first since
that is my forte. They have built a 2 story house on the stage
with that invisible 4th wall. It is as if you are
spying on the inner workings of a real family. And the lighting
is exceptional…George Gyzenski is back in town! Hello George!
I have seen the show before, off
Broadway in New York, and I knew, even though it is a comedy, it
has some dark moments. But doesn’t real life? If I had to say
what the story is about I would have to say the Dawn of
Awareness.
The trilogy begins with Eugene as
a 15 year old in “Brighton Beach”, who has an older brother ,
Stanley, who knows everything. He is secretly infatuated with
his older and more developed cousin Nora because Nora’s mother,
Blanche has moved in with the family due to the Death of her
husband. It appears to be a typical Jewish family with a
Mother, Kate, who is a typical Jewish mother, and a father, Jack
who works too hard and has the worries of the world on his
shoulders.
The second play centers around
Eugene’s Army days in “Biloxi Blues” and his crazy commander
Sgt. Toomey. Eugene falls in love for the first time.
The third play in the trilogy,
“Broadway Bound” focuses back at home in Brighton Beach. Both
Eugene and Stanley have daytime jobs, but dream of becoming
comedy writers. All the main characters from the first play are
present, but we also have Kate and Blanche’s father, Ben, a
Socialist.
If I had to pick the best Actor, I
couldn’t do it. I was thinking maybe there would be a weak one,
but as Shakespeare says, “there are no small parts, only small
actors”. Each Actor took their script and made believable
people out of the Authors dictation.
Of course, Eugene played by Josh
Jennings, and Stanley, played by Randy Hines are fantastic.
Even though they speak in a dialect, I could understand every
word. You really have passion for the Jack character, played by
Director Byrell Justice, and even the small role of Blanche
played by Cheri Valentine, was strong and believable.
If I had to choose the best Acting
job, I would have to say Gordon Freid, who usually does make-up
blew me away! His projection, and diction, and timing, his
mannerisms and his walk, were all unbelievably good.
But Cassie, Cassie Justice who
played Kate took the top prize. Her range of emotion was vast.
Her tenderness with her youngest child, her frustration with her
husband, her guarded love and concern for her father, her
impatience and jealousy for her sister, her joy in reminiscing
about the past put her number one in my book. Thank you cast of
Broadway Bound for an exceptional play.
The play runs September 25 and 26
at 8pm and closes Sunday September 27 at 2pm. Visit
www.ltob.net
for ticket information.
