[NEohioPAL] Berko review: 'ALL HAIL HURRICANE GORDO' (CPH) and preview of BROOKLYN, THE MUSICAL

[Roy Berko]

‘GORDO,’ fun--not the usual CPH fare, preview of
‘BROOKLYN, THE MUSICAL’

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--
LORAIN COUNTY TIMES--WESTLAKER TIMES--LAKEWOOD NEWS
TIMES--OLMSTED-FAIRVIEW TIMES

--COOLCLEVELAND.COM--

‘ALL HAIL HURRICANE GORDO,’ Carly Mensch’s comedy with
a message, which is now on stage at The Cleveland Play
House, is the kind of play that you might expect at
Cleveland Public Theatre or The Bang and Clatter. 
It’s an off-the-wall script that needs an outlandish
production and the right kind of audience to gain its
bizarre level of full effect.  

Not surprisingly, many of the patrons at the
production I saw, seemed unmoved by the exceedingly
good production they were observing.  From the nerf
ball basketball game that started before the play
actually began, to one of the characters literally
bouncing off the walls, dressed in a football helmet,
knee pads and gym shorts, to the hopeful ending,
audience members were either laughing hysterically or
stoically sitting in silence. 

The story concerns two adult brothers living on their
own.   As the story unfolds we find out that the duo
were abandoned in a parking lot by a mother, who 
found herself overwhelmed by life.  In order to make
sure that Children’s Services does not separate them,
the older brother Chaz, hides Gordo, his emotionally
challenged brother, by returning the duo to their
family home.  Working enough to pay for basic
necessities, selling off the family possessions, and
living in squalor, the duo basically live as recluses.
  In an attempt to raise some money, Chaz decides to
rent out a room.  Along comes India, a teenager who
has run away from her affluent family.  Through her
bizarre actions, she quickly brings the duo’s problems
to the surface and helps bring about some semblance of
resolution. 

In Yiddish, the word mensch (the author’s last name)
means a person of high integrity and compassion.  The
author imbues Chaz with those qualities.   Yet, though
one admires Chaz’s commitment to his brother, one can
only wonder why he was willing to give up a promising
tennis career and college scholarship to care-take the
psychologically fragile Gordo.  

The play abounds with questions. Is it possible to be
your brother's keeper and have a life too?   What is
really behind Chaz’s obsessive letter writing?  Why
does Gordo have outbursts where he slams his head into
the wall?  Are his outbreaks an illness or a device to
keep his brother bound to him?

Carly Mensch is a promising playwright.  This script,
which received rave reviews at the Humana Festival of
New American Plays in Louisville, puts her in the
class of Craig Wright (‘ORANGE FLOWER WATER’ which
received an amazing staging at Akron’s Bang and
Clatter earlier this year) and Neil LaBute, whose
‘THIS IS HOW IT GOES,’ is presently on stage at
Cleveland’s newest theatre, Bang and Clatter.

Mensch has a wonderful way with words and visual
images.  In ‘GORDO,’ she weaves a play about family
responsibility and dependency, with an uncomplicated
format that evokes laughs about a subject which, on
the surface, is not funny.   However, if she had made
this into a drama, it could have been emotionally
overwhelming.  Being able to laugh at the painful is
often the best way to approach certain subjects.  It’s
the same device LaBute used in his enthralling ‘FAT
PIG.’

The play encourages audience members to think about
our responsibilities to our loved ones and how they
may conflict with our responsibilities to ourselves. 

The CPH production, under the adept direction of Sean
Daniels, is excellent.  The cast is uniformly fine. 
As Gordo, Patrick James Lynch is a perfect boy/man. 
He develops a character that carefully balances his
being sympathetic, yet infuriating.  

Matthew Dellapina, who has the physical air of the
stereotypical nerd, capably makes Chaz a caretaker and
enabler who has given his life for his brother.

Tracee Chimo nicely develops India, the potential
housemate, into a  spoiled teenager, who is both wise
and unwise.  

William McNulty’s Oscar, India’s father, clearly
displays the frustration of being the father of a
teenage girl.

CAPSULE JUDGMENT:  ‘ALL HAIL HURRICANE GORDO’ is the
kind of play that audience members will either love or
question why they attended.  I loved it.  It was a
departure from the usual Play House script and I
appreciate their going out on a limb to expand their
offerings.  Maybe picking scripts like this will
encourage a younger audience to attend.

‘GORDO’ runs through May 11.  For tickets to CPH call
216-795-7000 or go to www.clevelandplayhouse.com.


‘BROOKLYN, THE MUSICAL’

PHSQUARE and Baldwin Wallace College are jointly
producing the regional premiere of ‘BROOKLYN THE
MUSICAL.‘  The show will feature current students in
the Baldwin-Wallace Music Theatre Program under the
direction of nationally acclaimed director Victoria
Bussert, head of the school’s music theatre program. 

The music rocks and the story really speaks to young
people. The script centers on a band of street-corner
singers and storytellers.  It is a fairy tale about a
young girl searching for fame and the father she never
knew. With just one clue to lead her, she lands in the
city that bears her name
 BROOKLYN. 

The production’s short run on May 1-3 will be at the
14TH STREET THEATRE.  Performances are scheduled at
7:30 p.m. with a special twilight performance on
Saturday, May 3 at 10:00  p.m. All tickets are $20.00
and on sale by calling 216-241-6000, online at
www.PlayhouseSquare.org, or at the Playhouse Square
Ticket Office.   


Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 2008, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info
      
His reviews can also be found on www.coolcleveland.com and NeOHIOpal (to subscibe visit http://mailman.listserve.com/listmanager/listinfo/neohiopal.)


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and 
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.  http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ