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Pillars of New York

Reviewed by Neal Weaver

Write Act Repertory at The Brickhouse Theatre

Through February 21

Many writers — including playwrights — seem to feel they can broaden the scope or deepen the penetration of their works by linking their efforts to major — often traumatic — events in the real world. When it works, the results can be gratifying. But unless the writer in question is very good indeed, the approach can backfire. The magnitude of the real events may dwarf the fictional ones and make them seem frivolous. So it is with Michael Antin’s musical play.

Antin sets his tale amid the horrors of 9/11, but his central figure, therapist and writer Jake Kelly (Wayne Moore), doesn’t have the stature to pull it off. He’s a myopic, egocentric and self-serving soul who, prior to the events of 9/11, is planning to write a book demonstrating his skill as a therapist via the case histories of his patients.

Rachel (Suzan Solomon) is a mother who’s guilt-ridden because her son (Julian Goza) has turned out to be gay. Marty (Michael Cortez) is married to Carrie (Molly Gilman) but having an affair with Jake’s assistant Wendy (Elizabeth Seroka). Bianca (Marza Warsinske) is thrilled to find herself pregnant at last, though her writer husband (Bobby McGlynn) is not ready to deal with fatherhood. And harried husband Victor (Gary Mortimer) is worried about his troubled finances, but can’t convince his extravagant wife Harley (Eloise Coopersmith) to take them seriously. (Yes, there’s a lot of plot — more, perhaps, than the structure can bear.)

Then the events of September 11 happen, and everything is changed. Some of the patients are killed in the blast, and the rest, for reasons never made entirely clear, turn against Jake. His assistant Wendy resigns rather than assist with a dishonest book. He smugly dismisses her criticisms.

Once we have seen the stark projected images of the destruction of the twin towers and their chaotic aftermath, it’s hard to take Jake seriously. He seems to be quibbling while Rome burns. We are now expected to believe that the traumas of the Trade Center have totally transformed him, and rendered him capable of writing another and different book, celebrating the strength and resilience of the survivors. It may be that such a radical sea-change is possible, but we don’t see it happen here, with the result that the feel-good ending seems unearned and rings hollow.

Many of Antin’s scenes are credible and effective, and they’re capably rendered by director Jim Blanchette, and faithfully served by the actors, particularly Gilman and Coopersmith. But Antin’s songs seem thin and light-weight in the context, and the subject itself seems an unlikely one for a conventional musical. Robert Bowers provides solid musical direction and accompaniment.

Write Act Repertory at The Brickhouse Theatre, 10950 Peach Grove Street, North Hollywood.  Fri.-Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 1:30 p.m.; through Feb. 21. https://brownpapertickets.com or (800) 838-3006, x-1. Running time:  One hour and 45 minutes with no intermission.