Biloxi Blues - a bit of a sleeper

After an eventful, eye opening young life growing up in Brighton Beach NY, Neil Simon has joined the Army. Simon's funny yet poignant life is told through his fictitious young playwright Eugene Morris Jerome.

Eugene is in for much more than he bargained for with the Army. A bunk full of bunk from a colorful group of mates that jockey for position while trying to avoid their intolerable fearless leader, Sargent Toomey.

It doesn't take long for young Eugene to take inventory of his roommates, which he keeps hidden in his journal. 

Frank Ferrante returns to direct yet his second of the three semi-autobiographies of Neil Simon. Ferrante makes the best of this first experience of military life through the eyes of young Eugene. Eyes that are popping as our young friend learns of first encounters of "ladies" while on leave as well as hard lessons on friendship and trust.

While there are moments of real engagement in this story, it is mixed with too many moments that simply are very commonplace and boring. This is largely due to the lack of strength in casting. Jesse Bernstein was invited back from Brighton Beach Memoirs where he played the younger Eugene. Bernstein is equally brilliant in Biloxi, as is his soon to be closest friend Arnold Epstein, played by Steven Klein. The two are the core of the show. While Bernstein could easily carry the rest of the cast, he blends well with Klein to form a bond of friendship that is the key to these characters relationship.

The others bunkmates seem to lack any depth of character development and that could be the way the roles are written. But it makes for a less than compelling 2 hours. Josh Clark plays the role of typical hard-nosed Army sergeant. Clark does a lot of annoying ranting with a grating voice. He is wimpier than harsh and demented than demanding. The one redeeming scene for Clark, is his drunken encounter with Epstein, where Clark's acting shines through.

A brief encounter with first love brings Eugene to meet Daisy, played by Elizabeth Webster. Again, with no bells ringing or fireworks blasting, the short-lived romance is little more than puppy love at best. 

Eugene ends his stay in boot camp on a train with his comrades and his journal as he records the events of what becomes of his Biloxi buddies.

Cast: Jesse Bernstein, Josh Clark, Jeffrey Coon, Aaron Cromie,Madi DiStefano, Steven Klein, T.J. Sokso, Matt Pfeiffer and Elzabeth Webster. 

photo:Jesse Bernstein ( Eugene) Elizabeth Webster ( Daisy)

photo credit: Mark Garvin

Directed by: Frank Ferrante

Biloxi Blues plays at the Walnut Street Theater from January 13 to February 29, 2004 

For tickets: call 215.574.3550 or visit www.wstonline.org