[NEohioPAL]Berko review: LOBBY HERO and previews

[Roy Berko]

‘LOBBY HERO’ GETS A FINE PRODUCTION AT BECK CENTER,
‘MISS GULCH’ RETURNS; A STOOP ON ORCHARD STREET COMES
TO BECK

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	


“How are you supposed to know if you’re right and
everyone else is wrong?”  “Do you stick by your
feelings, no matter what?”  These are two of the
questions at the center of Kenneth Lonergan’s ‘LOBBY
HERO,’ now on stage at Beck Center’s Studio Theatre.
	
Lonergan's play is presently one of the most popular
plays in regional theatre.  It is a serious comedy
that had its off-Broadway premiere at Playwrights
Horizons in New York during the spring of 2001. One
publication called it the "best drama, best comedy and
the best romance of the year, all rolled into one."  
After seeing the production you’ll understand why
Lonergan is noted for excelling in the naturalistic
conversational style of his characters.

Set in the lobby of a Manhattan high-rise, a security
guard tries to make the most of the graveyard shift,
cajoling, joking, and talking his way through the
night.   But when his boss's brother is implicated in
a brutal murder and he is complicit in covering for
him, the hapless lobby guard is confronted with a
mind-bending problem: he wants to do the right thing,
but he can't figure out what "the right thing" is.  A
rookie policewoman and her swarmy partner complete the
cast.

Beck Center’s production is outstanding.  In fact, the
staging and acting outshine the script.  That is not
to say the writing is poor.  It isn’t.  It’s just that
the play is overly long and lacks consistent emotional
tension but the production makes the most of what it
has to work with.  

Director Seth Gordon has pulled out all the stops to
make what could potentially be a talky evening, one of
interest.  He is aided by a terrific cast.  The actors
make the characters real enough so that we care about
them and project what might happen to each in the
future.  That’s a tribute to the quality of the
performances.

Matthew Joslyn, who portrays the lobby guard is
wonderful.  He makes hyper-hysteria and self-loathing
a way of life.  Joslyn alternates between being manic
and depressed with ease.  His confusion, his
frustration, his desire to do the right thing, are
finely conceived. 

Jimmie D. Woody makes the supervisor believable,
though his characterization isn’t always consistent. 
The conflict within isn’t always evident, but all in
all, we empathize with his conflict.

As the policeman Paul Floriano makes being slimy look
totally natural.   The character isn’t as completely
drawn as some of the others, but Floriano fills in all
the writing gaps.  We love to hate him.

Jennifer Clifford makes the novice policewoman
appropriately, vulnerable yet manipulative.  Her quick
fade from innocent to viper is well developed.

Don McBride’s scenic design, Jeff Smart’s costumes and
Jeff Lockshine’s lighting all work well.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  Beck’s ‘LOBBY HERO’ gets an
excellent production at Beck Center.  Here is a
production that takes a script to it highest level
through wise directing and fine acting.

‘LOBBY HERO’ runs through October 24 at the Studio
Theater at Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood.  For
ticket information call 216-521-2540.


MISS GULCH RIDES HER BIKE BACK INTO KENNEDY’S


Remember Miss Gulch,  the dog-snatching,
bicycle-riding, spiteful spinster-next-door who had it
in for Dorothy's little Toto in ‘The Wizard of Oz?’ Of
all Hollywood's ornery old maids, crotchety
battle-axes, and crusty curmudgeons, Miss Gulch is the
unquestioned queen.

Gulch paid a visit to Cleveland several years ago, and
is coming back by popular demand.  In the person of
Nick Vannello, Gulch teased the audience, sang up a
storm, and helped to create a new image for the much
maligned character.

Vannello is a familiar face to Cleveland audiences
having appeared in  ‘WHEN PIGS FLY,’ ‘PARADISE,’
‘SMILE,’ ‘A CHORUS LINE,’ ‘ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY,’
and ‘JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR’ as well as having
performed with the Cleveland Opera. He is currently a
dance consultant for the North Coast Men's Choir. 

The show comes back the weekend of October 15 and will
run Fridays and Saturdays for three-weekends.  For
production information and tickets go on-line to
www.missgulchreturns.com.


‘A STOOP ON ORCHARD STREET’ AT BECK

This is a country of immigrants.  It’s the purpose of
‘A STOOP ON ORCHARD STREET’ to take viewers on a
nostalgic trip back to the year 1910 on the Lower East
Side of New York, to share the trials and triumphs of
one Jewish family and their “stoop friends” as they
strive to live the American dream.

Writer and producer Jay Kholos was inspired to develop
the material by a visit to the Lower East Side
Tenement Museum on Orchard Street, where restored
apartments evoked the world in which his grandparents
lived after they fled Eastern Europe. He drew on his
grandfather's stories for a musical he describes
as''post-Fiddler'' -- what happens after the journey
to America.

Lakewood’s Beck Center will host the touring company
of this on-going off-Broadway hit.  The nine
performances run from November 10 through the 14.  For
tickets call 216 521-2540.  For more information visit
www.beckcenter.org.


=====
Roy Berko's web page can be found at royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, a free on-line source, which can be subscribed to at neohiopal at lists.fredsternfeld.com.


		
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