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| Eric Weiss (Robert Gomes, r.) returns to
his Brooklyn roots to visit his dying father
(Michael O. Smith) in Florida Studio Theatre
production of “Brooklyn
Boy.” | |
| When you go |
*
“Brooklyn Boy,” by Donald Margulies, at Florida
Studio Theatre. * Performances through Feb. 4. For
tickets call 366-9000.
| | THEATRE
REVIEW
‘Brooklyn Boy’ performances don’t
disappoint
By Wayne Barcomb
Having been an
admirer of Donald Margulies’ work for many years I looked
forward to Florida Studio Theatre’s production of his newest
play, “Brooklyn Boy.” I hoped I wouldn’t be disappointed
because his previous plays had set such high standards, one,
“Dinner With Friends” having won a Pulitzer
Prize.
Happily, “Brooklyn Boy” did nothing to undermine
my admiration. Indeed, it has only enhanced
it.
“Brooklyn Boy” is a moving and at times gut
wrenching story of a man’s journey into his past, a journey in
which he reluctantly views himself through the prism of his
sudden tenuous celebrity in a world far removed from the
Jewish Brooklyn in which he grew up.
Although the play
is billed as a comedy and has been called “uproariously
funny,” “Brooklyn Boy” carries with it a constant whiff of
melancholy and angst, and the humor is bitter-sweet. It’s “You
Can’t Go Home Again” with a Jewish accent.
Eric Weiss
(Robert Gomes), after two so-so forgettable novels, has
finally hit the big time with a best seller and a stint on the
Today Show. He returns to his Brooklyn roots to visit his
dying father in the hospital. Herein lies a priceless scene
(one of six in the play) between Eric and his father, richly
played by Michael O. Smith.
The scene is a wonderful
combination of laugh out loud humor and searing emotion.
Eric’s father, Manny Weiss, the quintessential Brooklyn Jew,
is loathe to praise his son, who so desperately craves his
father’s approbation.
When Eric tells his father that
his new novel is number 11 on the best seller list, Manny
says, “It goes to 11? I thought it only went to 10.”
Or
when Eric tells him he was on the Today Show, his dad’s only
reaction is to grimace and say, “Ech, what time did you have
to get up?” All in all, a wonderful scene beautifully played
by both.
Each succeeding scene in the play gets better
as when Eric encounters his old boyhood friend, Ira Zimmer,
played by Bruce Sabath with scene stealing ethnicity,
highlighting Margulies’ greatest strength, his pitch perfect
dialogue. Zimmer glides through a range of emotions, shifting
effortlessly from sycophantic envy to combative
confrontation.
Eric’s scene with his wife, in which he
comes to realize and accept that it may be the last time they
will see each other, is perhaps the most touching and
beautifully written scene in the play – two decent human
beings, hurting and helpless to do anything about it. It’s all
very emotional – very real.
The act’s three scenes are
equally laced with the bittersweet comedy that characterizes
the entire play. Eric’s hotel rendezvous with Allison, a
college student, after one of his book signings lays bare the
emptiness he feels after the break-up of his marriage. The
tryst he envisions with his nubile groupie ends in
embarrassment for them both.
In the second act a trip
to Hollywood for a conference with a profane, crass female
film executive and her proposed leading man for a movie to be
made of Eric’s novel ends equally disastrously. The laughs
flow in each of these scenes, but they are subsumed under
layers of an overriding sense of loss.
The two final
scenes between Eric and his father – back from the dead for a
final confrontation with his son – and another with Eric and
his friend Ira Zimmer, bring the play full circle but with no
resolution to Eric’s confusion and his
melancholy.
Director Kate Alexander has assembled a
cast who perform seamlessly without a false note. The play is
tight and smoothly paced.
Robert Gomes as Eric Weiss is
on stage throughout the play. He carries with him a mantle of
sadness and serves as a kind of lighting rod for the richly
drawn characters with whom he interacts. His is a difficult
role in which a lesser actor could succumb to blandness. Gomes
not only escapes this pitfall, but is the solid linchpin of
the play.
Celeste Ciulla as Nina, Eric’s estranged wife
provides the most moving scene in the play wherein she
alternately excoriates Eric, tenderly feels for him, and bares
her scarred emotions with an intensity that fills the
theatre.
Sage Hall’s Allison, the Valley Girl celebrity
chaser, plays the bedroom scene with hilarious results, and
Jamie Day, the stereotyped Hollywood producer, and Matthew
DeCapua as an obnoxious leading man type round out the
splendid cast.
Steve Mitchell’s constantly changing
sets set against the background of the Brooklyn Bridge and the
New York skyline never let us forget where we
are.
“Brooklyn Boy” may not be Margulies’ best play
(hard to beat “Dinner With Friends” and “Sight Unseen”) but it
could well turn out to be the best play you will see in
Sarasota this year.
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