Co-directors Andy Robinson and Ben Dicke have hit Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs" out of the ballpark.
If you haven't been to a Wagon Wheel Theatre show this season, then you must catch the WWT production of Simon's semi-autobiographical play. It is better than any entertainment you'll find on television.
At the center of "BBM" is Eugene, the role loosely based on Neil Simon. Eugene is a boy nearly 15, growing up in New York, who is just discovering girls and all their assets. He seems to get blamed for everything and finds himself in the middle of all the family drama. Eugene also is the character who serves as a sort of narrator device for the audience, speeding along the story and filling in the gaps.
Playing Eugene is Warsaw Community High School student Cameron Carter. And what an impressive job Carter does. Not only does he deliver his lines like a pro, but his mannerisms, facial expressions and entire look are nearly flawless. Carter more than proves he belongs on the WWT stage.
When Carter delivers lines, they seem like his own. For example, when Eugene is talking about some day playing for the Yankees, but giving all the reasons he won't make it, Carter gets to say, "My mom makes spaghetti with ketchup. What chance do I have?"
While Carter works well off all the cast members he interacts with, he has the best scenes with the talented Adrian Aguilar. Aguilar plays Eugene's older brother Stanley. Eugene idolizes Stanley, even though Stanley has some troubles.
Stanley gives Eugene advice on everything, including an enormously hilarious talk about masturbation. Eugene finds out that not only do all boys his age diddle, but his father also did when he was a boy and so did President Roosevelt! Aguilar and Carter had me busting a gut with their exchange.
Yes, this show has adult content, but if you've ever experienced puberty, and I know you have, the scene will crack you up. It's just great laughs well done by Aguilar and Carter working easily off each other.
Another scene where Aguilar and Carter have great chemistry on stage as brothers is near the beginning of Act II. Stanley loses $17 in a poker game and is distraught about what to do. Eugene also finds out his brother smokes Lucky Strikes and "lost" $5 back in November when Stanley paid for him and a friend to visit a "professional" woman.
Stanley and Eugene yell and call each other names like brothers do when fighting, and Stanley demands to see Eugene's report card, thinking it can't be that great. Eugene says Stanley doesn't need to see his report card, but ends up handing it to him anyway. When Stanley sees Eugene made four A's and one B, Stanley really feels like a putz.
I know Aguilar has his own brother, and Carter has his own sister, but in the puberty conversation and fight scenes, Aguilar and Carter easily pass as siblings.
But "Brighton" just isn't about the relationship of two brothers. It's about a whole family - spouses, sisters, parents and children.
There are two sets of sisters in the show. Kate (Jennie Sophia) and Blanche (Jennifer Dow) are both mothers and are sisters. Kate is the mother of Eugene and Stanley, and Blanche is the mother of Nora (Ashley Travis) and Laurie (Tara Rusinack). Blanche and her two daughters moved in with Kate's family after Blanche's husband Dave died.
Kate starts off very welcoming in the play to her sister and nieces living with them. But as Kate's husband's health starts to falter, Kate begins putting the blame on Blanche. Kate's husband Jack (Mike Yocum) has to work more, spend more and do more with the three extra women in the household.
Eventually, Kate erupts and there's a dramatic shouting match between Blanche and Kate.
I've praised Sophia and Dow many times for their talents, but their argument scene really showcases their strong acting abilities more than the many musicals the two women have performed in previously. And working off each other, it's like the stage goes electric.
Sophia easily slips into her roles, whether she's playing a beautiful maiden in "Brigadoon" or an older Jewish mother like Kate.Dow's self-pitying character can best be summed up when Blanche says, "I wrapped myself up so much in Dave, I never learned to be a mother."
And because she never learned to be a mother, that has created a lot of tension between her and her oldest daughter Nora. Nora really misses her father. Blanche gives Laurie more attention, Nora feels, because Laurie allegedly has a flutter in hear heart.
"I don't exist to you," Nora shouts, in tears, at her mother.
The scene where Nora explodes on her mother, and Blanche answers back, is the best scene in the play for the Nora character. And Travis delivers the goods - tears and rage and fire.
With such a small cast and lots of dialogue, it's amazing that the actors can perform so well and not flub a bunch of lines. Just one more reason why I could go see "Brighton" a few more times and continue to be entertained.
