Awake and Sing!

Reviewed by Neal Weaver
Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
Through October 2

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When Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing! was first produced on Broadway in 1935 by the short-lived but hugely influential Group Theatre, it became a landmark in American theatre history. At a time when Broadway was still dominated by the “Anyone for tennis?” brand of society comedies, it looked with piercing affection at a poor Jewish family living in the Bronx, dealt with the realities of the Great Depression, and espoused ideas of revolution and social reform. The play revealed Odets’ passion for language, and in it he tried to become America’s Chekhov. The original cast became a sort of Who’s Who of the American Theatre:  The director was Harold Clurman and the cast included Luther and Stella Adler (departing from her glamorous leading lady roles to play a quintessential Jewish mother), Morris Carnovsky, John Garfield and Sanford Meisner.

If the play were of only historical interest, we could just read about it in the history books and there’d be no need to revive it. But it influenced a whole generation of playwrights, from Arthur Miller to Paddy Chayefsky and Edward Albee. And it has proved its stage-worthiness in many illustrious revivals, both here and abroad, several of which won awards for the artists involved.

This current production, faithfully and sensitively directed by Elina de Santos, is as fine as we are likely to get. It’s expertly performed by an able ensemble of actors, and sparked by memorable performances by Marilyn Fox, Allan Miller, and Melissa Paladino.

As Bessie Berger, Fox captures the domineering ways of the matriarch of the Berger clan: her ruthlessness and determination, as well as her fear of poverty, and her fierce love of family, which blinds her to the havoc she is wreaking on her children, her husband and her father. Watch as, realizing her unmarried daughter Hennie (Paladino) is pregnant, she kicks into action immediately to marry her off to the naïve Sam Feinschreiber (Cameron Jappe) before she starts to show. Or when she puts the kibosh on the first love of her son Ralph (James Morosino), or attempts to cheat him of the $3,000 his grandfather has left him. Her actions would seem unforgivable — except that she’s convinced that she’s doing what’s best for all of them.

Jakob, Bessie’s father, is a retired barber, regarded as a failure by himself and those around him. Miller captures his sweetness, his love of his grandson Ralph — and for his Caruso records — and his thwarted desire to be a revolutionary. When Bessie, in a fit of rage, destroys his records, the die is cast, and he jumps from the roof in order to provide young Ralph with the insurance money that will enable him to break free.

Paladino contributes an eloquent and richly detailed performance as Hennie, the young woman who’s trapped in a loveless marriage, yet feels obliged to resist the advances of the man she does love, Moe Axelrod (Jason Huber). Morosino, as Ralph, plays the author’s surrogate, a man who wants to change the world if he can just break free of his guilt-tripping mother.

Richard Fancy shines as rich and wily Uncle Morty, and Jappe is touching as the inoffensive, ineffectual Sam. As Bessie’s husband Myron, Robert Lesser is a hieroglyph of well-meaning failure, and Huber scores as Moe, the cynical realist who lost a leg in World War I. Dennis Madden is effective in a tiny role as the janitor of the family’s apartment building.

Odets is one of the few playwrights with a recognizable voice and a penchant for capturing the language of his time. Sam’s “I’m so nervous. Twice I weighed myself on the subway platform,” or Bessie’s “Go fight City Hall!” are pure Odets, as is Ralph’s “We want a life that’s not printed on dollar bills!”

If I have any quibble with this lovely production, it’s with the set. It looks freshly painted and band-box new. The Bergers are poor, and while yes, Bessie is eager to keep up appearances, they can’t afford a paint job every year; their furniture may have been good once, but it should be shabby now. They’re desperately clinging to their place in the lower middle class, but the effort should show.

The Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Boulevard, Los Angeles. Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 3 p.m.; plus Wed., Sept. 14 only at 8 p.m., and Sun. Oct 2 only, at 7 p.m. (310) 477-2055 or www.facebook.com/OdysseyTheatre. Running time: two hours and 20 minutes with two 10 minute intermissions.