Dramawork’s Lost In Yonkers Is Profound, Trenchant Drama

Will Ehren, Fig Chilcott, Victor de Paula Rocha in Palm Beach Drsmsworks’ Lost In Yonkers /Photosby Curtis Brown

By Oline H. Cogdill

Neil Simon’s finely tuned comedies established his playwrighting career, capable of drawing audiences to Broadway and regional productions. But his dramas, such as Lost in Yonkers, now receiving a glorious production at Palm Beach Dramaworks, made critics and audiences reevaluate those works. Theatergoers began to understand that those comedies such as Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple and Plaza Suite used light humor to look at families, marriage and life changes.

The 1991 Pulitzer Prize-winning Lost in Yonkers with its intersection of culture and families shows Simon at his most profound and makes a fitting launch for Palm Beach Dramaworks’ 25th season.

Simon’s reinvention of himself began with the autobiographical trilogy starting with Brighton Beach Memoirs.

The quasi-autobiographical Lost in Yonkers mirrors how Dramaworks has reinvented itself starting in a small storefront to its lovely Clementis Street theater, becoming, along the way, a juggernaut of Palm Beach culture.

The Kurnitz family, especially “15 and a half” Jay and “13 and a half” Arty, are indeed lost in Yonkers in 1942, unmoored by the loss of their mother and essentially, of their father. That “half” they insist being added to their ages is their way of feeling more grown up than they are.

The brothers’ mother Evelyn has recently died following a long illness. Their father, Eddie, needs work to reimburse the loan shark he used to pay her steep medical bills and to support his sons. He feels he has little choice but to become a traveling salesman selling scrap iron that will be used to build military items for World War II. The pay is decent and being on the road will help him deal with his grief and his own inadequacies, he feels, as a father. Eddie believes it will take about a year to pay off his debts.

But the boys can’t stay by themselves nor could Eddie afford to pay for their old apartment. So Eddie reluctantly asks his strict, unemotional, judgmental mother, from whom he’s estranged, to let Jay and Arty live with her and his unmarried sister, Bella, in Yonkers. She refuses but, uncharacteristically, Bella stands up for her nephews, insisting they stay.

The brothers are unhappy—they are afraid of their Grandma Kurnitz, who’s never called by her first name. She seems to look down on them, insists on calling them by their given names, Jacob and Arthur, which she pronounces “Yakob” and “Artur.” They also can’t connect with Bella, who has difficulty focusing on anything.

Their lives get more complicated when their uncle Louie, a bag man for a mobster, who shows up on the run from a gangster from whom he has stolen money. The brothers begin to plot how they can steal money, whether from Louie or their grandmother who supposedly has stashed a lot of cash. The boys want to help their father so they can live with him again.

Lost in Yonkers’ coming-of-age theme affects each character, no matter their age, as their lives center around the apartment and running the grandmother’s candy store downstairs.

Director Julianne Boyd forms her cast into a tight ensemble who interact seamlessly, making the audience believe they really are a family, granted, a dysfunctional one.

Boyd carefully mines Lost in Yonkers for its pathos and humor, finding that sweet spot melding the two into a believable story. Lost in Yonkers has become a popular play for professional and community theaters to mount, but in the wrong hands it can come off as hackneyed. Boyd understands the material and delivers a fully realized production. Each actor realistically explores their own vulnerability, even why this aspect of their personality is locked away—a credit both to Boyd and this strong cast.

Laura Turnbull

The award-winning Laura Turnbull shines as Grandma Kurnitz, the linchpin of Lost in Yonkers. Turnbull allows glimmers of an abusive childhood in Germany and the deaths of loved ones to show why she is so rigid and unsentimental about her family. This grandmother equates tears with weakness. She constantly undermines Jay and Arty, believing that will make them stronger. Outfitted and expertly made up to look more than 30 years her age, Turnbull adds this character to her resume of in-depth portrayals of complicated women. Grandma Kurnitz is still haunted by the deaths of her husband and two of her six children, yet Turnbull never lets her performance resort to cliches.

Fig Chilcott

The grandmother’s essence hovers over the play even when Turnbull isn’t on stage. Still, Fig Chilcott has the showiest, and most difficult role, as Bella, who dutifully cares for her mother. Chilcott plays her as a fully realized character—never a caricature—of a slightly mentally challenged woman, often forgetful, losing herself in movies and fan magazines. Her mother describes her as a child, despite being in her mid-30s, while others say her mind is “closed for repairs.” Bella is a sad character, desperately wanting to be loved but Chilcott never makes her a pathetic character. During the course of Lost in Yonkers, Bella grows to respect herself and acknowledge what she needs.

As the young brothers being forced to stay in Yonkers, Will Ehren as Jay and Victor de Paula Rocha as Arty are on stage most of the play, and they carry this responsibility quite well, showing their acting chops. These fine young actors exhibit the brothers’ growth—entering their grandmother’s home as boys but leaving 10 months later as young men, giving the audience a glimmer of the adults they will become. Ehren and de Paula Rocha each come with a substantial resume of acting credits as both make their Palm Beach Dramaworks debut.

Gangster brother Louie, solidly played by Jordan Sobel, is all swagger and bravado, as Sobel shows how he maneuvered his childhood that led to his career. Louie is a tough guy, as Sobel illustrates, but the actor also digs below the surface to show a man who does care about his family.

Patrick Zeller makes the most of his role as Eddie, the boys’ father. Zeller illustrates how conflicted Eddie is about leaving his sons and how he can’t take the time to mourn his wife as he has to support his family. His recounting letters from the road as he travels state to state are filled with emotion.

Gert, the Kurnitz sister who actually got out of the house to start her own family, only has two scenes. But actor Suzanne Ankrum makes the most of Gert whose wheezing and lack of breath control is triggered by being around family.

Bert Scott’s lovely set depicts a tidy, comfortable living room with a small dining room with just enough furniture to illustrate Grandmother Kurnitz’s preference for practical, unpretentious furniture meant to last a lifetime. The word stylish is not in her vocabulary and she believe it a waste of money to buy anything new. Scott’s set is very much a 1940s landscape that no doubt will see the family through at least another decade.

Brian O’Keefe’s costumes evoke the early 1940s, especially Bella’s dresses. Carolina Ortiz Herrera’s lighting design effectively set the mood as does Roger Arnold’s sound design with its murmurs of the city and frequent trains as Eddie goes cross country.

Palm Beach Dramaworks took advantage of its summer break to design a new lobby that is bright, inviting and feels larger. Posters of previous productions hang from the ceiling to further celebrate the theatre’s 25th anniversary. Even the ladies restroom has received an overhaul and it is sumptuous—a word seldom if ever used to describe a restroom.

Lost in Yonkers is a fitting beginning to Dramaworks’ next 25 years.

Lost in Yonkers runs through Nov. 23 at Palm Beach Dramaworks, 201 Clematis St., West Palm Beach. Evening performances are Wednesday through Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. Matinee performances are Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2 p.m. Running time approximately two and a half hours, with a 15-minute intermission. Tickets for all performances are $92. Student tickets are available for $15 with a valid K-12 or university/college ID, and anyone under 40 pays $40 (no additional fees) with a photo ID. Tickets for educators are half price with proper ID (other restrictions apply). Group rates for 10 or more and subscription packages for four or five plays are also available. Tickets can be purchased through the box office, or 561-514-4042; palmbeachdramaworks.org