Patti Gardner and Geoff Freitag work through multiple marriage issues in Pigs Do Fly Productions’ Better Late (Photos by Deborah Kondelik)
By Britin Haller
Nora Baer is carrying around a boatload of guilt regarding the way she walked out on her first husband for her second husband twenty-five years ago, and when she sees the opportunity to assuage herself of it once and for all, she must take it. The only problem is her second husband has something, lots of things really, to say about it. Such is the dilemma of Better Late, a present-day dramady from Pigs Do Fly Productions now running at the Empire Stage in Fort Lauderdale.
Written originally by M*A*S*H creator Larry Gelbart and Craig Wright (Six Feet Under), this is the 2009 revised version credited to Gelbart only that focuses more on aging and regret. In other words, less comedy and more angst. Better Late is directed by Deborah “DK” Kondelik, who also acted as the costume coordinator and props designer.
We open on former actress Nora, and her composer husband, Lee, in their Beverly Hills home. They are getting ready to attend the opening night of a theatrical production, and Nora is dragging her feet. “I didn’t care if people came in late, I just cared if they left early,” she tells Lee when he’s pressing her to hurry up and get dressed.
“Can we at least get there before the reviews come out?” Lee asks. That got a big laugh, especially from us.
Patti Gardner
Patti Gardner (2025 Carbonell Award nominee and previous winner) is wound up as tight as a drum in her role as Nora, the guilt-ridden and guilt-inducing wife. Nora has to be in control, so much so she won’t let her husband, Lee, drive on the interstate.
She’s afraid she might be losing her looks, and Lee’s affair has catapulted her onto the brink of a real crisis, not just a middle-aged one, but one of conscience as well. She clearly doesn’t like it when the shoe is on the other foot. “Is there any part of our past you’re not going to bring up?” she asks Lee.
“That’s what the past is for, my dear,” Lee dryly tells her.
There’s a moment when Nora puts on hand cream, and then touches Lee’s suit and tie with her greasy hands, when we had to wonder, and hope, that it was not just a stage movement, but a bit of passive-aggressive business by the always impeccable Gardner.
Lee, played by Geoff Freitag, seems nice enough, although it quickly becomes clear he has cheated on Nora with a pretty and younger actress who is on her way up. On the surface, Nora has forgiven him, but also not really, and after bringing the affair up for leverage, Nora segues into her desire to have them open up their home for her first husband, Julian, so he may recuperate there after a mini-stroke.
Lee is opposed to the idea, but slowly agrees to the new living arrangement, leaving us with the feeling that wasn’t the first time the controlling Nora has managed to convince her henpecked husband to abide by her wishes. Freitag is believable overall, but never seems to rise to the level of exasperation one would think this situation would bring out in him, especially when Julian’s stay turns into a horrendous eight months long. Even still, Freitag does give us a nice sense of quiet despair, although does he really need to look that disheveled at times?
There is a certain luxury that comes when one doesn’t need to mince their words anymore, and as Nora’s former (older than her) spouse, Julian, Peter W. Galman gets the best lines. Julian has been biting his tongue for a long time, and now that the opportunity to say his piece and get some vindication is here, he’s dropping one bombshell after another. Galman and Freitag’s car-ride scene is adorable, even though the blocking needs work as there is not a clear sightline for Julian from all seats in the house.
Julian and Nora have a grown son named Billy (Chad Raven) who is having his own marital problems, including a wife who is having sex with their contractor on the Berber carpet that Nora bought the once-happy couple for a wedding present. Raven seems relatively green, but there is obvious potential there as a handsome leading man, and we would love to see him perform after he has a few more shows under his belt. Our only pet peeve is for Raven to please lose the cell phone in the front pocket of his already very tight jeans/slacks, as it took us out of his scenes.
Empire Stage’s technical team members are almost a given for any production there, including Preston Bircher on lighting and David Hart on sound who give us their usual flawless designs. Stage Manager Patrick S. Vida is always a welcome sight from his visible tech-booth perch.
The scenic design by another Empire regular, Ardean Landhuis, is lovely, but scene changes by Om Jae are much too long, sometimes feeling like an eternity before the action picks up again. And because the set dressings are so minimal, this feels unnecessary, and makes an already-long running time even longer. Not Jae’s fault at all, who does a commendable job of moving the bulky puzzle pieces around in the semi-dark.
Even the bright breezy piano interludes, while enjoyable, don’t make the scene changes any more bearable.
If there is any one fault in this production, it’s the pacing. Not just between scenes, but during them, primarily in Act Two where more than once we wanted to yell out for them to speed it up. That could have been opening weekend jitters, or reaching for lines, but it was noticeable enough to earn a mention.
In the end, Better Late is a story of forgiveness, and who amongst us can’t use more of that? But ultimately, this is Nora’s redemption arc journey – from the son who felt abandoned when she left him at a young age, to Julian whom Nora first cheated on and then left entirely, to Lee who cheated on her not because he didn’t love her, but because Nora didn’t appear to still love him.
Better Late is an interesting character study of a trauma-bonded family who have hurt each other deeply, but who are tied together until the bitter end because they are after all … family.
Better Late from Pigs Do Fly Productions plays through November 30 at Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Drive, Ft. Lauderdale (two blocks north of Sunrise, east of the railroad tracks); 8 p.m. Fridays; 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Running time approx. 135 minutes with a 15-minute intermission. Tickets $45, or mention the code BLAST for $56 off. Call 954-678-1496, or visit pigsdoflyproductions.com.
Britin Haller is a journalist, editor-for-hire, and an author who serves on the board of directors for the Mystery Writers of America Florida Chapter. As a celebrity wrangler, Brit regularly rubbed elbows with movie stars, sports stars, and rock stars, and as a media escort, she toured with New York Times bestselling authors.
Patti Gardner and Peter Galman
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