Arts is Life
A Simon Classic
JET production of "Brighton Beach Memoirs" shines.
SUSAN ZWEIG
Special to the Jewish News
I
f we haven't lived through it, it
should be impossible to get more
than a fleeting sense of growing
up Jewish in 1930s America.
At best, we can approximate the
cadence of daily life, the way it felt in
the homes of our mothers
and fathers (or their par-
ents before them), the
discussions that hung in
the air mixed with the scent of din-
ner cooking.
There may be a way yet: In the
Jewish Ensemble Theatre's production
of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach
Memoirs, that portrait of family and
time period becomes exceedingly
vivid, right down to a split-finger
baseball glove, It's as much a credit to
JET's first-rate staging as to Simon's
singular gift.
In the first of Simon's autobiograph-
ical trilogy, Eugene Morris Jerome
[Jason Richards] teeters on the curb of
puberty in 1937 pre-World War II
New York, expounding on family and
society with an idealization and know-
ing that only an adult reflecting on
youth can capably muster.
With his uncle's death, his family
has grown by three: Aunt Blanche,
Laurie and Nora (Kristin Dailey,
Shannon Ferrante and Rachael
Nardecchia) now call the Jerome resi-
denCe "home," too, contributing their
ample share of appreciation and com-
plexity — but zero financially.
Eugene's father (Samuel Pollak)
works extra jobs to keep the family
afloat; even Eugene's brother, Stanley
(Dax Anderson), turns over all he
earns.
As much as his mother (Karen
Sheridan) loves having her sister there,
helping to shoulder the burdens of
care taking, the drain on the family is
about to come to a head.
As an ensemble, the cast plays off
one another gracefully; individually,
each personifies his or her role with
the subtle gestures and glances that
only rise to the surface from meticu-
lous honing. There isn't a weak leak in
this bunch under Evelyn Orbach's sen-
sitive direction.
Jason Richards is delightful as
Eugene, his physicality a main line
into that no-man's land between child-
hood and adulthood; Karen Sheridan
as Kate projects the weariness and
steely backbone that is the definition
of "mother" in our collective memory.
Dax Anderson's Stanley deftly
telegraphs how hard he yearns to be
worthy of his father's love. Samuel
Pollak delivers poignant pac-
ing and delivery, a father's
tender voyage from emo-
tional darkness into light.
From the moment the audience
enters the theater, Christopher
Carothers' stunner of a set greets
them; the Jerome's frame house stands
infused with Diane E. Ulseth's
thoughtful touches of furnishings and
sundries.
With so many of his works part of
entertainment's lexicon, Neil Simon is
almost as much an adjective as a
noun: In any Neil Simon-type work,
it's a given that relationships and
angst will be given their proper exca-
vation with hard-worn tools of humor
and heart.
His is a strike zone of emotions
pitched to; a particular brand of
straightforward narrative structure; a
highly specific, stylistic type.
JET's production of Simon's
Brighton Beach Memoirs serves as proof
of its effectiveness, of adulthood
bravely faced to preserve the child-
hood of another, one wonderfully
'suited to record such selflessness for all
time. ❑
Review
JET's production of Brighton Beach
Memoirs runs through June 5 at
the Aaron DeRoy Theater in the
Jewish Community Center, 6600
West Maple, in West Bloomfield.
Performances are 7:30 p.m.
Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m.
Saturdays and 2 and 7:30 p.m.
Sundays. On Wednesday, May 25,
there will be a 2 p.m. matinee
instead of the evening perform-
ance. Tickets: $25-$37; discounts
for seniors are available. Rush tick-
ets, $15, are available two hours
before every show. Information and
tickets: (248) 788-2900.
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