[NEohioPAL]Plain Dealer Rave-The Boys Next Door

Wed Jul 13 11:41:45 PDT 2005

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A Visit with the "Boys" Well Worth the Journey
Tony Brown

    Porthouse Theatre, located on the grounds of  Blossom Music Center in the 
wilds of Cuyahoga Falls, isn't really next door to  anything but meadows and 
trees. But in the theater, anything is possible.  Porthouse is now host to an 
always decent and often brilliantly directed and  acted production of "The 
Boys Next Door," an urban comedy-drama that manages to  touch, tickle and bite.
    First produced in 1987, at the height of the  "mainstreaming" movement, 
Tom Griffin's episodic play takes a consistently  poignant and rarely cloying 
look inside a group home for four mentally disabled  men, and inside the life 
of the counselor who tries to keep up with them.
    That original production, by the way, first at the  Berkshire Theatre 
Festival and then off-broadway in New York, was directed by  the late Josephine 
Abady and starred David Strathairn.
    The play went on to become one of the most produced  in the country in 
the late 1980's. Abady went on to become artistic director of  the Cleveland 
Play House and Strathairn, one of the American stage's most  intensely 
fascinating performers.
    The Porthouse production, directed with imaginative  flair and a gentle 
hand by Great Lakes Theater Festival alum John Woodson, also  thrives on its 
acting, particularly that of Brian Zoldessy.
    Physically diminutive but exuding a mile-wide  mushroom cloud of nervous 
energy, Zoldessy plays Arnold Wiggins ( the role  created by Strathairn), a 
continually chattering bundle of obsessive-compulsive  tics and twitches.
    From the opening moments, when Arnold brings home  enough boxes of 
Wheaties from the grocery to feed a team of champions for a  month, Zoldessy 
effortlessly tucks the audience into his back pocket and keeps  us there.
    But Zoldessy doesn't operate alone.
    Big Chuck Richie, his cap and shirt covered with  sugary glaze, gnaws his 
way through several cartons of doughnuts as Norman  Bulansky, deeply in love 
with his giant ring of keys and with a mentally  disabled woman he meets at a 
dance.
    As schizophrenic Barry Klemper, passing himself off  as a golf pro who 
gives tips on what to look for in a good cart, the youthfully  energetic Andrew 
Cruse has a tragic manic streak.
    And with Christopher Reeve good looks and  burned-out bonhomie, Michael 
Anderson narrates the circus as disillusioned  social worker Jack Palmer. At 
Friday night's opening, he turned a jet whining  over the open-air amphitheater 
into a neat ad-lib.
    The play sometimes shows its age; Woodson  mistakenly down-plays the 
Brooklyn, N.Y., setting and hints that the apartment  may be in Northeast Ohio; 
the set has its limitations; and the five members of  the cast occasionally 
resort to caricature.
    But "The Boys Next Door" successfully creates a  consistently funny and 
genuinely moving urban myth in the great outdoors of  Greater Summit County. 

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<DIV><STRONG>A Visit with the "Boys" Well Worth the Journey</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>Tony Brown</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV>    Porthouse Theatre, located on the grounds of=20
Blossom Music Center in the wilds of Cuyahoga Falls, isn't really next door=20=
to=20
anything but meadows and trees. But in the theater, anything is possible.=20
Porthouse is now host to an always decent and often brilliantly directed and=
=20
acted production of "The Boys Next Door," an urban comedy-drama that manages=
 to=20
touch, tickle and bite.</DIV>
<DIV>    First produced in 1987, at the height of the=20
"mainstreaming" movement, Tom Griffin's episodic play takes a consistently=20
poignant and rarely cloying look inside a group home for four mentally disab=
led=20
men, and inside the life of the counselor who tries to keep up with them.</D=
IV>
<DIV>    That original production, by the way, first at=20=
the=20
Berkshire Theatre Festival and then off-broadway in New York, was directed b=
y=20
the late Josephine Abady and starred David Strathairn.</DIV>
<DIV>    The play went on to become one of the most prod=
uced=20
in the country in the late 1980's. Abady went on to become artistic director=
 of=20
the Cleveland Play House and Strathairn, one of the American stage's most=20
intensely fascinating performers.</DIV>
<DIV>    The Porthouse production, directed with imagina=
tive=20
flair and a gentle hand by Great Lakes Theater Festival alum John Woodson, a=
lso=20
thrives on its acting, particularly that of Brian Zoldessy.</DIV>
<DIV>    Physically diminutive but exuding a mile-wide=20
mushroom cloud of nervous energy, Zoldessy plays Arnold Wiggins ( the role=20
created by Strathairn), a continually chattering bundle of obsessive-compuls=
ive=20
tics and twitches.</DIV>
<DIV>    From the opening moments, when Arnold brings ho=
me=20
enough boxes of Wheaties from the grocery to feed a team of champions for a=20
month, Zoldessy effortlessly tucks the audience into his back pocket and kee=
ps=20
us there.</DIV>
<DIV>    But Zoldessy doesn't operate alone.</DIV>
<DIV>    Big Chuck Richie, his cap and shirt covered wit=
h=20
sugary glaze, gnaws his way through several cartons of doughnuts as Norman=20
Bulansky, deeply in love with his giant ring of keys and with a mentally=20
disabled woman he meets at a dance.</DIV>
<DIV>    As schizophrenic Barry Klemper, passing himself=
 off=20
as a golf pro who gives tips on what to look for in a good cart, the youthfu=
lly=20
energetic Andrew Cruse has a tragic manic streak.</DIV>
<DIV>    And with Christopher Reeve good looks and=20
burned-out bonhomie, Michael Anderson narrates the circus as disillusio=
ned=20
social worker Jack Palmer. At Friday night's opening, he turned a jet whinin=
g=20
over the open-air amphitheater into a neat ad-lib.</DIV>
<DIV>    The play sometimes shows its age; Woodson=20
mistakenly down-plays the Brooklyn, N.Y., setting and hints that the apartme=
nt=20
may be in Northeast Ohio; the set has its limitations; and the five members=20=
of=20
the cast occasionally resort to caricature.</DIV>
<DIV>    But "The Boys Next Door" successfully creates a=
=20
consistently funny and genuinely moving urban myth in the great outdoors of=20
Greater Summit County. </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>

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