Why Worry? Jews R 2 Much Fun
Reviewed by Iris Mann
Santa Monica Playhouse
Through June 25
In the spirit of the 1923 play, Abie’s Irish Rose, and the television series of the 1970s, Bridget Loves Bernie, playwright Jerry Mayer, who also served as producer and/or writer on that TV sitcom, has fashioned another work about interfaith marriage. Mayer introduces the device of displaying a litany of material about famous and infamous Jewish figures that, while amusing and educational, interrupts the flow of the story.
Stanley Schneider (Patrick Censopiano), who is Jewish, wants to marry Kathy Adams (Tara Brown), who is Catholic. They both know that her father would object strongly to her marrying someone who is Jewish, even though he insists he does not dislike Jews. It seems that, in their youth, the fathers of the couple were close friends. However, her father, Chris (Paul Linke), skipped the Bar Mitzvah of his father, Marvin (Chris DeCarlo). It was a slight that Marvin couldn’t forgive, and the two men have been at war ever since.
Though it’s difficult for him, Marvin, and his wife, Suzy (Evelyn Rudie), extend an invitation to Chris’s family to meet at the Schneider house to try and reconcile their differences. While Chris vociferously objects, he is pressured to go by Kathy —and her mother, Mary (Jamie Gallo). Once there, Chris, who doesn’t want his daughter to become Jewish, is ultimately treated to an entertainment presented by all the others, in full costumes (expertly designed by Ashley Hayes), with rear projections (beautifully accomplished by James Cooper). The little vignettes are basically enactments of the lives of notable or notorious Jewish people, such as Joseph Pulitzer, Irving Berlin, and the gangster Bugsy Siegel, among several others.
It calls for a huge suspension of disbelief to accept that someone could or would prepare such an elaborate presentation in their home to extoll the virtues of Jewish values, Jewish culture, and many accomplished Jews. In the guise of educating Chris about Jewish life, it seems the playwright is directing the information more at the audience. Unfortunately, the little scenarios become a bit preachy, particularly the segment between Mary as God and Stanley as Bugsy. In addition, the play’s resolution seems too pat.
DeCarlo also serves as director. He does establish a nice, brisk pace and gets his cast members (in varying degrees) to inhabit their characters, especially in the little “plays within a play.” Gallo, in particular, has moments that are attractive and very effective.
Given the current rise of antisemitism, Mayer may have felt the structure he devised was warranted, but it strains credulity nonetheless.
Santa Monica Playhouse, 1211 Fourth St., Santa Monica; Sat. 7:00 p.m.; Sun. 2:30 p.m.; through June 25. Tickets: 310-394-9779 x1 or https://www.santamonicaplayhouse.com. Running time: 80 mins. with no intermission.
