Front Row Centre Theatre Revew: LOST IN YONKERS

by Mark Andrew Lawrence, Front Row Centre

 

LOST IN YONKERS is one of Neil Simon's best plays and Encore Entertainment is offering a first rate production directed with great attention to detail by Mario D'Alimonte.

 

The show chronicles the stay of Arty and Jay with their fearsome grandmother. Their father must leave them with her while he goes on the road to raise money to pay debts incurred by his late wife's illness. The boys prove pretty resilient, and adjust to their new situation thanks largely to their loving though slightly addled Aunt Bella.

 

Between running interference for their Uncle Louie – who appears to be hiding from the mob, and counselling Bella on her budding love life, they don't have much time to miss their dad. 

 

You might expect this to turn into a warm family play with the boys coming to love their tough grandmother, but Simon has other ideas. Arty describes kissing her as "kissing a wrinkled ice cube." She stands for no nonsense, demanding not love, but respect.

 

Simon's play weaves all these story elements together with much of his trademark humour but the difference that makes LOST IN YONKERS so winning is that so much of the comedy is rooted in character and situation rather than one-liners.

 

David Melamed and Michael Rausch play the teen boys with assurance, nailing every comic line yet delivering them naturally.

 

Eddy Morassutti strikes a proper balance between caring father and neurotic son.

As the iron-fisted grandma Kurnitz, Marion Hirschberg dominates the stage whenever she appears.  Using her cane to keep her family in line, she doesn't trade on sentimentality. The script offers some plausible reasons for her coldness but somehow it doesn't really matter. She is tough because she has to be.

 

She is balanced by Mary Panoulias as the slightly off-balance daughter who seems unafraid to stand up to her mother.  The actress avoids caricature, even though the script makes her alternately stupid and clever. Her warmth helps establish a bond with the motherless boys that they cannot achieve with their grandmother.

 

In supporting roles Tom Black makes the most of his role as the boys' Uncle Louie, especially when he teaches them about "moxie" and Karyn Pellatt scores some laughs in brief scenes as their asthmatic aunt.

 

Director D'Alimonte who keeps things natural while allowing the humour to rise to the surface brings it all together. The pacing is excellent, and the transitions from scene to scene are very smooth.

 

The secret to playing comedy is not to assume it is funny but rather to play it realistically. That is exactly what the cast do here, and it works.

 

 

 

LOST IN YONKERS continues at the Studio Theatre at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, 55040 Yonge Street until February 12^th. Evening performances are at 8 PM with a 2 PM matinee on Sunday. Tickets are $26.50 and may be purchased by calling the Box Office at 416–733-0558 or at www.encoreshows.com.

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