Dana Weisman and Skip Pipo (Photo by Eric Keitel)
Reviewed by Martίn Hernández
West Coast Jewish Theatre at the Miles Memorial Playhouse
Through March 29
Sean Michael Williams, Joelle Tshudy (Photo by Eric Keitel)
What’s a mother to do? It is 1968 and Polish immigrant and now Chicago resident Ida Blumenthal (Dana Weisman), recently abandoned by a husband still traumatized by the Holocaust, wants a respectable father figure for her teenaged son Sammy (Zachary Nemes). She also wants a steady-earning husband, so she places a personal ad in a local Jewish newspaper inviting single men to a homecooked Shabbos dinner. The only catch is that she invited three gentlemen for her first foray, looking to provide herself with a variety from which to choose. “Oy gevalt” is right as Ida’s plans go from bad to worse.
Co-writers/directors Howard Teichman’s and Steven G. Simon’s heartfelt but scattershot comedy is based on an episode from Teichman’s teenage years. Teichman’s pre-curtain announcement informs the audience that what transpires on stage is what really happened. While truth may be stranger than fiction, it is not always funnier, due to the show’s stereotyped characters, clunky exposition, and strained attempts at humor.
While Chicago’s streets are filled with anti-Vietnam War protestors targeting the Democratic National Convention, Ida is cooking up her own mini convention. Walking around, as the play opens, in a bra, girdle, and gartered fishnets in front of her son and brother Irving (Shelly Kurtz) appears routine for her; it’s either a sign of her flamboyance, an indication of her mental state — or perhaps, and more likely, an obvious set up for a later sight gag. Irving is not keen on Ida’s self-matchmaking scheme, and dubs the roster of men coming to visit “coconuts.”
David (Skip Pipo) is the first caller to arrive. He’s a pompous salesman, anxious to reveal to a disinterested Sammy his the frugality with which he purchased his colorful clothing.. Number two is Manny (Warren Davis), a vendor for the Cubs arriving straight from a double-header, still in an apron and stocked with peanuts. Rounding out the trio is Benny (Kevin Dulude), a milquetoast accountant mourning a recent breakup and prone to fits of weeping.
Ida plays the coquette, strolling seductively about the apartment, dancing with each suitor and quizzing them on their lives, all to Sammy’s embarrassment and the men’s pleasure. But when the police raid the apartment of Ida’s upstairs neighbor Maurice (Sean Michael Williams) — an amiable Black man and former Shabbos goy with a dubious income stream — they all end up at the local precinct where they are interrogated by abusive cops.
Teichman and Simon touch on some compelling issues, like surviving Hitler’s concentration camps, police abuse, and the 1960s era Generation Gap. They also pepper the piece with hackneyed tropes: the overbearing Jewish mother, the Black jive-talking hipster, and the foul-mouthed anti-establishment hippie. Despite a middling script and languid direction, some cast members achieve some touching moments, as when Nemes’s frustrated Sammy rails on about his mother’s overprotectiveness or Dulude’s Benny decries his lost love.
Miles Memorial Playhouse, 1130 Lincoln Blvd., West LA.; Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm; thru March 29. http://wcjt.org Running time: two hours and 25 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.
