By James V. Ruocco
Set in Yonkers, New York, 1942, Neil Simon's poignant, emotionally enthralling play "Lost in Yonkers" steps back in time to record and replay the story of two young boys (based, in part, on Simon and his older brother) who are temporarily placed with their hard-as-nails, rigidly disciplined grandmother (their father, a traveling salesman, is away on business to earn money to payback borrowed funds from loan sharks) in an apartment overlooking the family-owned Kurnitz Kandy Store. The boy's mother, we learn, has died of cancer.
From the start, it's clear that the style, the tone and the mindset of this particular narrative is going to gloriously play out the Simon aesthetic with echoes of slap-dash cynicism, angst, sentiment, surprise and rock-solid storytelling.
It does, of course, and so much more.
One of the major highlights of Hartford Stage's eclectic 2021-2002 season, this is a fierce, polished and playful production chock full of invention, grit, charm, skill, humor and nostalgia.
It looks perfect.
It's keen-witted.
It accommodates with context and characteristics that heighten its visceral appeal.
Its heightened awareness of family is strong and responsible.
It is clever and prolific.
It is fueled by an experienced, dream cast led by Marsha Mason, Andrea Syglowski, Jeff Skowron, Hayden Bercy, Gabriel Amoroso, Michael Nathanson and Liba Vaynberg.
And finally, it's all about the man himself - the late great playwright Neil Simon.
A master of the one-liner and a plotline infused with humor, inspiration, social relevance and autobiographical ticks, beats, skips and coining, Simon's works - "The Odd Couple," "Come Blow Your Horn," "California Suite," "Barefoot in the Park," to name a few - follow a certain formula that thrust the theatergoer into a vertigo of fun, sentiment, pathos and conflict. Timing, of course, is everything, as is the play's concept, its story arcs, its recurring themes, its characters, its exchanges, its monologues, its solutions, its dialogue, its time, its place and its language.
"Lost in Yonkers," which won the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, retains the wit, the banter and the insults that Simon is famous for, but it treads on a more serious, more grounded, more complex terrain that is shaken and stirred - pun obviously intended - with thought-provoking darkness, change of heart, exploration and tilting crusade. And therein, lies its theatrical hook, its orchestrated involvement and smart and savvy nuance.
What's fascinating about Simon - in this case, "Lost in Yonkers" - is that he opens the door to his heart and mind, invites you in, chats with you as if you're a long-lost friend and then digs deep to make you laugh, cry, shake your head and pull things apart while using his writing skills to entertain and enthrall you in the darkened confines of a theater.
It's an efficiently organized work that runs like clockwork. It also has all the satisfactions and frustrations you'd expect from Simon intertwined with splendidly orchestrated memory, unexpected surprise, pathos and verbal gravity.
That said, who better than Marsha Mason, the playwright's wife of ten years (they divorced in 1983) to co-direct "Lost in Yonkers" alongside Rachel Alderman. She received three of her four Academy Award nominations for works written by the late playwright and screenwriter - "The Goodbye Girl," "Chapter Two," "Only When I Laugh." On Broadway, she appeared in Simon's "The Good Doctor." In London's West End, she starred in "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" opposite Richard Dreyfuss who won an Oscar for his performance in Simon's 1977 romantic film comedy "The Goodbye Girl" opposite Mason.
She also was featured in 1983's "Max Dugan Returns," which was written for the screen by Simon and on record, voiced the Grammy-nominated L.A. Theatre Works' recording of "The Prisoner of Second Avenue."
Directorially, she gets inside Simon's head and runs with it. She's confident. She's determined. She's emotional. She takes chances. She hits the right notes. She uses every inch of the playwright's story-teller instincts to reel you in hook, line and sinker. She does all of this with great style, purpose, warmth and a nostalgic sweetness that gives "Lost in Yonkers" a one-on-one intimacy that makes the theatergoer feel as if they are right there alongside her, deeply involved in Simon's meticulously crafted, largely personal play.
Laughter - laced with deliciously wicked sting and surprise - is the centerpiece of any Simon play and both Mason and Alderman come to this revival with the knowledge and understanding necessary to build, frame and punctuate a laugh simply, resourcefully and naturally. The beats, the pauses, the rhythms, the set ups and the punchlines are orchestrated with the zing and snap the playwright is famous for, but without overstatement and calculation. Here, they simply happen in the moment, a directorial choice that gives "Lost in Yonkers" a brilliant comic centeredness that works most advantageously throughout this illuminating, affectionate revival.
While Simon's technique for getting laughs is evident throughout "Lost in Yonkers," this revival also carries a dramatic weight and unapologetic honesty that is clear, delicate and implicitly connected. Here, the illusion of truth, mixed with memory, skill and dramatized urgency feels naturally bedded-in with perfectly positioned elements and specificity as dictated by both Mason and Alderman. It's an artistic choice that not only creates expertly devised pathos, but the shrewdly imagined world of the seven characters who inhabit the playwright's gutsy, spoon-fed domain.
"Lost in Yonkers" stars Marsha Mason as Grandma Kurnitz, Andrea Syglowski as Bella, Gabriel Amroroso as Arty, Hayden Bercy as Jay, Jeff Skowron as Eddie, Michael Nathanson as Louie and Liba Veynberg as Gert.
In the role of Granda Kurnitz, originated by Irene Worth in the 1991 Broadway production and played by Mercedes McCambridge in the subsequent National Tour, Marsha Mason is the play's thrilling, dominant force and one, that in this incarnation, she invests with pride, dignity, chutzpah, frustration and broken illusion. Well versed in the mechanics of all things Simon, she offers theatergoers a determined, raw and charismatic performance, built with flawless comic timing, energy, positioned character development, expert line delivery and naturally timed starts, stops and pauses that heighten her already fueled portrayal of the play's proud, manipulative matriarch.
As Bella, the mentally challenged, unmarried, childlike, 35-year-old daughter who is not always playing with a full deck, Andrea Syglowski takes charge of her very demanding role with a channeled effectiveness that makes her every moment on stage inspired, motivated, cheerful and hauntingly purposeful. Playing the pivotal role of Eddie, the boy's father who convinces his mother to take charge of them during his absence, Jeff Skowron offers an honest, grounded performance enhanced by welcomed charisma, splendid comedy relief, accurate, delivered narration and a naturally orchestrated interaction with the young actors who play his sons.
Cast in the roles of Arty and Jay, Gabriel Amoroso and Hayden Bercy capture the confusion, curiosity, angst and rebellion of two boys quickly uprooted from their home and forced to relocate to an entirely new environment where strict rules and conditions are reinforced daily without room for any sort of negotiation. As actors, they are charming, personable and natural, often reminding one of the typical Simon characters who populate "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "Broadway Bound."
Engaging as they are in the presence of the play's seasoned adults, both actors need to fully understand how to play and position themselves for laughs, take a breath, speak more clearly and not rush or garble Simon's choice verbiage. A ten-minute jam session with Mason and Alderman is greatly suggested.
Though she arrives late in the play - about halfway through the second act - Liba Veynberg, cast in the role of the older daughter Gert, a character who suffers from breathing issues whenever she pays a visit to her mother (for comic purposes, she is unable to finish a sentence or two without loudly gasping for breath), crafts a hilariously rounded, deftly comic performance, high on octane, and ignited with just the right amount of comic snap and brio to madly applaud her performance during the show's final curtain calls. As Uncle Louie, a Yonkers thug on the lam, played by Richard Dreyfuss in the 1993 film adaptation, Michael Nathanson instills his character with comic thrust, spirit and inspiration. His scenes with Bercy and Amoroso are genuine, important, playful and completely in sync with Simon's serio-comic vison for the part.
This revival of "Lost in Yonkers" also comes packaged with inspiration, color and atmospheric period detail provided by a very talented design team that includes Lauren Helpern (scenic design), An-Lin Dauber (costume design), Aja M. Jackson (lighting design) and Broken Chord (original music and sound design). All four work harmoniously together crafting a fluid, warm and inviting atmosphere that reflects Mason and Alderman's personal take on the material and its original vision, as shaped by the playwright himself. The incorporation of a huge outdoor sign that invites customers to experience the sweet and tasty confections of the Kurnitz Kandy Store is a nice but underused touch that heightens the aura and nostalgia of Yonkers, circa 1942.
A wonderfully constructed, enthralling piece of theatre, "Lost in Yonkers" basks in the reflective potency of Neil Simon's words, conversations, one-liners and smartly drawn characters. The story is kept in motion, not only by the thrilling vigor of its seven-member cast, but by the intimate, involved, poignant direction by both Marsha Mason and Rachel Alderman.
It's a smartly justified work rife with Simon's trademark, wildly inducing humor, stories and situations that touch the heart, fill us with memory and transport us back to a time when life was much more simple.
It's also the first time a work by Neil Simon has been presented at Hartford Stage. Given the theater's past production history, it's a bold move, indeed. But one, nonetheless, that stands tall and mirrors the commitment, excellence and brilliant pay-off of the Hartford-based venue.
Photos of "Lost in Yonkers" by T. Charles Erickson
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