Broadway Bob’s

CRIMES OF THE HEART

“Crimes Of The Heart” is a Pulitzer Prize winner that takes place in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. The plot is based mostly on three sisters who try to navigate societal expectations. Writer Beth Henley lays it out plainly by juxtaposing cousin Chick Boyle (Branwyn Richie) against the Magrath sisters: Lenny, Meg and Babe.

Lenny (Jacqui Byrne) is the most responsible of the sisters. She is the caretaker of the ailing grandfather. Byrne is mostly the anchor in this play. Her role commands the stage as she sets both the tone and the pace of this classic play. Director Eve Bianco does well having the ladies feed off one another as it was Hanley’s intention when she wrote the book that the young woman break free of their oppressive pasts and that they accept one another.

Under a warm set (Stevie Fenstermacher), “Crimes Of The Heart” is able to unfold in the Magrath kitchen. The lemonade and the coffee flow throughout the two and a half hours. As the play unfolds, we get a sense that all is not well with each other. Babe (Violet Levinson) has just shot her abusive husband Zachery. Meg (Ana Radice-Morras) has returned home from Hollywood as a failed singer. In her youth, Meg had a reputation for being loose; she is a very selfish person and clueless to other peoples feelings.

“Crimes Of The Heart” played at the Golden Theatre for three years on Broadway. The story is always underlying and never overbearing which gives the play its charm. Like the Broadway rendition (which I saw), this play succeeds on the acting as well as the lighting (Obid Abdurakhmanov) who hits the stage with glam lighting with the blues, cool whites and oranges in a glam lighting mode. At times the lights are too bright and blind the audience. Even so, we get the warm Southern feel regardless. The lighting is particularly deft in the night with the blues when Babe and her lawyer, Barnette (Luke Kissick) converse, and in the morning with the orange lighting.

The level of the pecking order was largely determined by the very good costuming by Roxane Pes. Chick, the well dress proper Southern woman is a social climber. Her two outfits show us what a proper woman in Mississippi looks like. Lenny, the more practical woman is dressed as such. Pes picks up the woman’s role and dresses them appropriately to their character.

This “Crimes Of The Heart” was well done and should be seen. The actors flow well with one another, the direction pays careful attention to the detail of each character. The subtlety that was the 1981 play, the 1986 movie is kept steadfast to the underlying messages. The girl’s smile when they hurt underneath. The playful banter is fun to watch and the old Southern Moor’s are kept at the heart of the play even when the girls are a wreck.

AN AMERICAN DAUGHTER

“An American Daughter” at the Diamond Theatre at Pershing Square has many moving parts to it. It is political- the play takes part in Georgetown where politics are at the forefront of everything. Dr. Lyssa Hughes (Jean Lichty) is the daughter of conservative Senator Alan Hughes(Dakin Matthews). She is about to be appointed Surgeon General until something happens that could dampen he hopes of approval.

Writer Wendy Wasserstein wrote this around 1997. It is different for her because in the past she was in your face political. Here, however, she takes a look at her party and criticizes it. The play delves into the hypocrisy of the left, the contradictions of the liberal elites. In her “The Heidi Chronicles” she had a much different tone about politics.

The problem with Wasserstein’s play is several fold: director Sarna Lapine dis an awful job blocking this play. This made the actors look like they were acting onstage rather than appearing natural, less forced. Both Lichty (A lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur) and Robert Sean Leonard (At Home at the Zoo) were washed out by the direction. Both of these actors always give a good performance when onstage but here they were ineffective throughout the play. Add to the fact that Montego Glover could not hold her role as a Doctor, and you have a recipe for disaster.

“An American Daughter” can be funny at times; some of the writing is both outdated and weak though. I never thought Wendy Wasserstein was a great writer, just a good one. Her “Sisters Rosensweig” was probably her best work, even though she had way more accolades with “Chronicles”.

What was really good about “Daughter” was the scenic design by Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams. The warm sun permeating through to the audience was comfortable to the eye. The lighting too (Alan C. Edwards) was warm with great colors to enhance the set. The sound design by Darron L. West helped this helpless play along with deft sounding throughout the two and a half hours.

Where “American Daughter” could have been better is that the confrontation (the jury duty dilemma is just not that convincing) was anemic. The unemotional relationship between father and daughter was to evident from the start. The “fixer” of the conflict was way to ineffective. His nerdiness was more annoying to the audience than it was funny.

Between the weak direction, the holes in the consistency of some of the actors, the very inconsistent writing, “An American Daughter” is a play that will leave you scratching your head and asking “what was the writer trying to accomplish here?”

THE BATHROOM ATTENDANT

“The Bathroom Attendant” at Theater 124 Bank Street is for the most part an enjoyable play. The play is written by Tom Kelly and directed by Andrew Block. The two hour play takes place on the seedy side of town just outside Las Vegas, Nevada.

Johnny (Dan Patrick Brady) is a former Golden Gloves Boxer who has a penchant for gambling, hookers and fast money schemes. The person who he is closest to is Tina (Kate Miller) who is probably the best directed of all the characters. She is able to act her role with real authority and believability.

The first act moves well because the story unfolds nicely. The dialogue between Johnny and Tina as well as Connor (Evan Klein) is when the play is at its best. Connor has seen something atrocious and he relies on his fathers old family friend from the Brooklyn days to help him execute a plan that will expose a celebrity in the baseball community.

The second act is a little more far fetched but the story remains interesting regardless. Actors Jon Krupp and Mari Blake as Bambi have larger roles in act two. Blake was very good in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”. Here, however, her and Jon Krupp as Marcus never really are that believable, nor are they very effective to the plot.In Krupp, he is never too believable in his role; he never strikes us as a tough guy. Blake too seems discombobulated as a young prostitute who wants revenge.

This play could have been sensational if the second act was as strong as the first. Instead, Kelly brings trafficking, the presidents false rape charges into the play. This useless rhetoric does nothing for this play that has down-trotten people dealing with everyday life and barely getting by. Even though Tina, a former porn star, wants to help young women like Bambi, the long trafficking speeches are superfluous and time consuming for the audience.

The direction is inconsistent during this two hour play. At times the blocking seems to be a problem. At times the actors are very good, at other times the actors seem lost in their movements. This falls directly on the blocking. Both Miller and Brady who have vast theater experience at times seem like they are forcing the plot along.

In a play of this genre both Sound and lighting are extremely important. Tony Lepore does a deft job in the sound and design. The play is at its best when the lighting which brilliantly backstops the play as well as locks in the mood. The play too in sound brings the emotional tone to the forefront. When the play is clicking and the action picks up, Lepore is brilliant with the sound. In the design as well, we see just how deflated these people are residing in this beaten up place where the lowest of the low come to live.

“The Bathroom Attendant” is a play that during the two hours is both excellent and really slipshod. If Kelly is able to shake out the plots weakness and put into it more meaningful writing, this show can be a real hit.