Reviews
Abie’s Irish Rose (2010)
Despite broad stereotypes, 'Abie's Irish Rose' has
appeal
In 1922, when "Abie's Irish Rose" opened what would turn
out to be a record-breaking, five-year run on Broadway, the critics had
nothing good to say about the show.
But audiences ate it up.
Now, as the venerable romantic comedy opens the 30th season at Act
Inc., it's easy to see both points of view.
Playwright Anne Nichols certainly didn't trouble herself with
subtlety. Her play about a young Jewish-American man and a young
Irish-American woman relies on ethnic caricatures for humor and implausible
coincidence for plot. That's not a promising combination.
And yet, the show has appeal.
Part of the credit for that goes to director Steve Callahan, who
keeps things bright and brisk. But Nichols deserves credit, too. Her play — the inspiration for the old TV
show "Bridget Loves Bernie" and maybe also for "Guess Who's Coming
To Dinner" — acknowledges a fact of life: In a melting pot, sometimes the cheese is
going get attached to the meat. That's life in America.
Nichols doesn't even pretend to solve the problems that can create,
except with a pasted-on happy ending.
But by writing a comedy instead of a drama, she turns down the heat
and hints at the possibility of civilized, and even happy, ways that people
from different cultures can live together in a society that belongs to them
all. That's as reassuring today as it was almost 90 years ago.
Ryan Cooper and Maggie Murphy bring plenty of charm to their
portrayal of Abie and Rose Mary, a couple who have secretly married because
they know their families would disapprove.
But the play really belongs to Barry Hyatt and Jesse Russell, who
play their widowed fathers.
So physically different that Mack Sennett could have cast them, the
small, bustling Hyatt and the big, roaring Russell bring two stereotypes to
life with unself-conscious warmth; the long, silent scene in which they
"fight" with gift-wrapped packages is delicious.
Costumer Jane Sullivan secures the play's stylish period look,
reserving the best outfits for Suzanne Greenwald. Greenwald gives a such
lively performance as the Jewish family's kvetching neighbor, she earns
every sequin that she sports.
Judith Newmark. St. Louis Post Dispatch
Abie's
Irish Rose is a bona fide
theater anomaly. The original 1922 New
York production ran for more than five years. All these decades later, it remains the
third longest-running nonmusical (after Life With Father and Tobacco
Road) in Broadway history. Yet who today has seen this pariah? The Romeo and Juliet spinoff about
the uproar that ensues after Abie
Levy (Ryan Cooper), a dutiful Jewish son, secretly brings
home Catholic bride Rose Mary Murphy (the sassy Maggie Murphy), is rarely staged because it is
reputed to be one of the most politically incorrect comedies of all time. But although the evening is indeed a lumpy
stew of clichés, obvious mistaken identities and mispronounced words (oh,
those silly immigrants), the script is hardly malicious. At times it even evokes a naive sweetness.
Director Steve Callahan has assembled an
excellent cast. There's not a weak performance in the ensemble. In a script
that invites excess, the evening is noted for its restraint. As Solomon Levy, the father who would rather die than
see his son marry a Catholic girl, Barry Hyatt transcends ethnicity. He reminds one of
an impish Barry Fitzgerald, yet when he frowns
he morphs into a surly Edward G. Robinson. As Rose's hot-tempered Irish papa, Jesse Russell is the whale to Hyatt's sardine. Hyatt and Russell are as incompatibly
charming as Mutt and Jeff.
Legend has it that
Abie's original New York
reviews were terrible. They weren't, at least not all of them. Critics
seemed to be more offended by the comedy's longevity (five years!) than by
its existence. But the play will not outstay its welcome here, because it's
only running for one more weekend. Act Inc. is providing a painless way to
fill in what for most of us has been a missing link in theater lore.
Dennis Brown. Riverfront
Times
“Director Steve Callahan has assembled a cast I feel was absolutely
perfect . . .”
“I found Abie’s Irish Rose
to be full of schmaltz (sentimentality), and a very entertaining evening.”
Laura Kyro, KDHX
Waiting in the Wings
(2009)
“ACT Inc.
uses large cast to great effect”
“Imagine a non-musical play in today’s commercial theater with a cast
of 18! . . . But ACT INC has
produced it. And ACT INC has the
women to do it. . . . Dorothy Davis is at the top of her game
as the dear old soul whose mind wanders from decade to decade.
“Act, Inc. is
a lovely summer theater noted for its sweetness and gentility. While other local companies strive to be
edgy, Act, Inc. revels in the past.
They're much more excited by rediscovering a play written a century
ago than in something new.”
Dennis Brown, River Front Times
Ladyhouse Blues (2008)
[On having viewed production photos and heard recording of the songs
by the cast:]
“It was a truly wonderful
experience -- the best since I saw, and was part of, the original
production in NYC [in 1967].”
The play’s author, Kevin O’Morrison
“Ladyhouse Blues is the type of nugget
that Act Inc. has famously found and featured throughout its 29-year
history. . . . O’Morrison’s two-act drama is very well written, poignant
and affecting . . . Steve Callahan’s direction is loving and meticulous,
with care and attention afforded the five talented actresses who comprise
the show’s ensemble.”
Mark Bretz, Ladue News
“Scientists (and by "scientists," of course, I mean
"men") have long speculated on a parallel universe of
"women's hearts," operating on unseen, unknowable rules of female
emotions in response to apparently insignificant events, rather than
running on the good old laws of physics. And here, Mr. O'Morrison's play
gives us a fuller, more sympathetic glimpse of that invisible parallel
universe than any other play I've ever seen, including those written by women
themselves, set in any time period you might care to mention. . . . “All four actresses do great work
under the sensitive direction of Steve Callahan.”
Richard Green, Talkin’
Broadway
The Romantic Age
(2008)
“Director Rob Grumich keeps faith with the script . . . he never
rushes the romantic comedy, and imbues his cast with style. Teresa Doggett
gives a delicious performance as Melisande's silly mother, a woman who
seems to float through the play on the strength of the air in her head.”
Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post Dispatch
The Man with a Load of
Mischief (2007)
“Act, Inc. once again dusted off a pair of trusty old tales, works
titled Enchanted April and Man with a Load of Mischief, with
good work in the former by Julie Venegoni and April Strelinger and by
Kirsten Wylder and Colin Nichols in the latter.”
Mark Bretz, KDHX “Radio Roses”: Most memorable shows of 2007
Enchanted April
(2007)
“It’s a charming story, and a wonderful cast assembled by director
Deanna Jent fills it with life, love and vibrancy in this delightful
rendition.”
Mark Bretz, Ladue News
The Real Inspector Hound
(2007 fundraiser)
“St.
Louis critics take the stage as actors!”
Noises Off
(2006)
“This mother of all backstage theatre comedies
serves up an evening of seemingly limitless laughs. . . . [Director Deanna] Jent and company
have provided audiences with a night to remember.”
Drama at Inish
(2006)
“.
. . fascinating. . . an unexpected treat for audiences.”
Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post Dispatch
Alice Sit-by-the-Fire
(2005)
“For either the experienced
or casual theatre-goer, Alice
Sit-by-the-Fire is a fun show with a unique history that is easy to
enjoy.”
Philip Bozich, KDHX, 88.1 FM
“Comic timing that never
fails….”
Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Great Day in the Morning
(2004)
“…St. Louis theatergoers are being given
the rare opportunity to share in a resurrection. Great Day in the Morning serves up a grand evening of theater.”
Dennis Brown, Riverfront Times
“ACT Inc.’s current
staging of Great Day in the Morning
rescues a fine script with strong local interest from undeserved neglect.”
Gerry Kowarsky, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“The ACT Inc.
production, sporting Deanna Jent’s well-tuned direction of a fine local
cast … plays exceptionally well in the intimate studio space of Fontbonne
University Theater.”
Nancy Crouse, KDHX, 88.1 FM
Meet Me in St. Louis
(2004)
“…a lot of fun.”
Richard Green, KDHX, 88.1 FM
“In its wry depiction of
that eternal battle of man vs. wife, daughters and maid, once again Meet Me in St. Louis refreshes and
charms.”
Dennis Brown, Riverfront Times
Diana of Dobson’s
(2004)
“A young woman in
possession of life’s ‘larger truths’ breaks the hearts of her betters, and
is broken even from her own meager station by her defiance of convention.”
Richard Green, KDHX, 88.1 FM
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