BWW Reviews: Jay and Nancy Krevsky Headline THE LAST ROMANCE at Theatre Harrisburg

Joe DiPietro isn't just a playwright - he's an extremely successful one. He's the man who gave us the Off-Broadway and dinner theatre staple, I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE (it ran for twelve years Off-Broadway, not THE FANTASTICKS but not too shabby). He gave us OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS. He won two Tonys for MEMPHIS and just finished giving us NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT.

He's written a number of other plays, too - they haven't all been major productions. One of his smaller ones, a four-person (or three actors, one tenor) rendition called THE LAST ROMANCE. It's one of those gifts to theatre, a straight play that requires older, rather than juvenile lead, actors, and that begs the leads to be played by a married couple, which is often done. More of a boulevard comedy than anything else, though its ending seems to argue otherwise, it's a lightweight vehicle for solid actors. At Theatre Harrisburg, that's exactly what it is, as well as being a vehicle once again for a married-couple team: directed by Tom Hostetter and starring Harrisburg's first couple of theatre, Jay Krevsky and Nancy Krevsky. Despite the number of roles each has had in local theatre, before this, Jay and Nancy had never played against each other, and that has been one of the draws of the show. It's admittedly a bit of a vanity piece, sponsored by the Krevsky family, partly so that the Krevskys finally get their romantic leads with each other, but that doesn't negate the talent in the show.

Jay Krevsky stars as Ralph Bellini, retired opera aficionado and widower. He's falling for Carol Reynolds, played by Nancy, who walks her Chihuahua in the park across the way every day. Ralph's a persistent dynamo who barely avoids getting slapped; Carol is an elegant, icy WASP with her own marital tragedy and a cool detachment. Despite the inauspiciousness of the pairing, ice thaws and affections develop as they meet each other in the dog park - and no, Ralph doesn't have a dog.

Linda Draper is Ralph's sister and housekeeper, Rose, a needy, greedy, manipulative woman afraid of her status in her brother's life if he, a widower, falls in love again. Rose has her own problems, which she approaches by steadfastly ignoring them, but she has no intentions of ignoring Ralph's possible happiness, which could pull the rug from under her completely. That Draper is successful in conveying her character is proven by the itch the audience has to slap her.

Also in the cast, and in many ways the most prominent member of it, is Jonathan Manley Hudson as Rafael, an opera tenor who breaks into arias at critical moments of the show, each aria related to the moment on stage. As we discover, Rafael is Ralph's younger self, the young man who auditioned at the Metropolitan Opera and had hoped for an opera career. That he didn't succeed is one of the personal failures of his life, and one that's also explored within DiPietro's story. Hudson, who has a Master's in Music from Peabody Institute and has performed with multiple opera companies, is a delightful surprise, and one of the joys of this production - one doesn't expect a comedy to be accompanied by an opera recital. (If only time permitted full renditions of more of the arias.)

Despite all of these things, and despite the charm, there's no denying that not only is this play small, it's also a bit thin. And after the comic build-up, the ending's a disappointment, leaving one with the sensation that one's seen a comedy with a possibly unhappy ending, and a forced one at that. The resolution seems inadequate and twisted into place.

However, while it's a treat for local theatre-goers to see either Krevsky on stage, it's an absolute delight to see the two of them together. And that's the real point of this production.

Last performance, July 28 at the Krevsky Center. See www.theatreharrisburg.com for information.

Photo courtesy of Theatre Harrisburg