Review: I'M NOT RAPPAPORT at City Stage in Union Station

Victor Raider-Wexler (Nat) and Granville O'Neal (Midge) are charmingly cantankerous in Herb Gardner's in Kansas City Actors Theater's new production of Herb Gardner's 1985 comedy "I'm not Rappaport."

Directed by Dennis D. Hennessy, "Rappaport" is a gentle screed against the vagaries of getting older. The two central characters, Nat and Midge could not be more different except for their advanced ages. Nat Moyer is a mouthy, but well-meaning elderly gentleman of Jewish extraction. Midge Carter is an eighty- something African- American. He has served as the "super" of a Park Avenue apartment building for the past 42 years. As he has aged, Midge has attempted to disappear into his basement apartment.

The two spend their days hiding in plain sight inside nearby Central Park and bickering like an old married couple. Both are hiding in some fashion from their age.

In Nat's case, he hides from his solicitous daughter. Clara (Cheryl Weaver) is worried about Nat. She wants him to take better care of himself or move in with her.

Midge's problem is he doesn't want to be declared obsolete. He wants to spend the remainder of his days in his long-term basement home fixing little problems at his building. It turns out he is visually impaired and works nights to avoid from being found out. He has heard that his building is going "condo" and is afraid of being let go.

"I'm not Rappaport" (the title) is the punch line from a "Borsht Belt" comic routine of the Vaudeville era. It really doesn't mean anything, but tends to become funnier with each repetition. The best examples of this kind of humor are the "Niagara Falls routine" from "The Sunshine Boys" or Abbot and Costello's "Who's On First" routine. These and similar jokes were routinely performed by Jewish comics up through the 1970s.

Nat is a tireless inventor. Every few minutes, he invents a new persona. As the curtain rises, Midge is already upset with Nat. Yesterday, it seems, Nat has told Midge that he is a spy from the CIA working undercover.

The President of the Park Avenue tenant's committee literally runs by and asks to meet with Midge at the end of his run. Midge is terrified that he will be fired. He is right. Although Midge begs Nat to be silent, Nat cannot help but step in to help. He re-invents himself as a lawyer on the spot and threatens Mr. Danforth with legal action if he dares to let Midge go.

The same basic scenario plays itself out episodically throughout the play. First with a neighborhood tough (Gilley) Midge has paid for protection, then for a young woman (Laurie) with a drug debt, then with the drug dealer (Cowboy), and finally with Nat's daughter (Clara). Each new tale invented by Nat is more outrageous than the last. Each new difficulty eventually resolves, Nat is found out, and Nat and Midge circle back to the same basic argument they were having when the audience first met them in the park.

Victor and Granville are both excellent actors and leave the audience charmed. The supporting actors are likewise very good. Sets are just professional good enough to suggest an effective park setting. Dialog mostly sparkles. "I'm not Rappaport" is a fun evening at the theater.

Kansas City Actors Theatre continues its run on the City Stage inside Union Station through August 28th. Tickets are available on line or by telephone at 816-235-6222

Photo provided by Kansas City Actors Theatre.

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