Photos by-Daniel Rader
By Bill Hirschman
As the newest New York production of Our Town proves — yet again over its 86 years – this acclaimed work is a reliable property whether it’s being done by this Broadway cast led by Jim Parsons or by your kid’s high school drama class.
Its appeal to audiences and also to production companies lies in a title still resonant in the public consciousness; in its accessible universal theme; in its many easy-to portray and distinct characterizations; in its little to no scenery expense; and in its large cast perfect for amateurs, professionals and the large list of auditioners attracted to the Senior Class Spring Production.
This edition directed by Kenny Leon echoes two done by Miami New Drama in being quietly but notably multi-cultural – from the black and white sweethearts to the varied ethnicities in the community to opening the production with the foundational Hebrew prayer Shema Yisroel.
The 1938 boundary-breaking script by Thornton Wilder paints a portrait of the citizens and their routines in a small New Hampshire town. Notably, it is always staged acknowledging it is a creation of theatricality being presented to an audience. To wit: It is performed on a mostly bare stage with a handful of tables, chairs and risers rearranged between scenes. A narrator with the character title Stage Manager guides you through the evening moving time ahead and back with omniscient comments. While it is set in Grover’s Corners at the start of the century, specific time and location are intentionally vague and instantly relatable to anyone anytime. For instance, the clothing worn by various characters places them in various periods of the 125 years.
For the 12 people who have never read or seen it, the overview traces highlights in the lives of two young people who fall in love and marry, as well as the lives of their parents who are the town doctor, the newspaper editor and wives who are the pillars of the family. We see the couple as children, then courting teenagers, then as they get married and then in the afterlife after the wife dies quite young. They are encircled by an array of townspeople — the mailman, milk delivery boy, alcoholic choir master and assorted other archetypes.
Its intention is to venerate the everyday life of everyday people, choosing events so common and conventional that every human being in the audience can connect with them and their life events, no matter their own background, past, social standing or hometown.
This round gains attention for casting some well-known and effective actors including Zoey Deutch as the central heroine Emily, Katie Holmes as Mrs. Webb, and Richard Thomas, fresh off a national tour of To Kill A Mockingbird, as Mr. Webb. Backing them up are more than 20 character actors interacting as if they have known each other for a lifetime.
But, of course, the selling point for the marketing department is casting Jim Parsons as the focal point narrator Stage Manager. It is not stunt casting; Parsons has headlined several Broadway shows besides his iconic television role as the nerdy scientist in The Big Bang Theory. There is not a run-for-cover shred of his Sheldon or his voice present.
Many other Stage Managers have been older avuncular types so knowledgeable of the town that they seem to be a reminiscing resident. But Parsons and Leon make this younger fella possibly a social scientist who has studied Grover’s Corners for a thesis. He is not at all cold or without any emotion, but he is not a citizen showing off his home and neighbors. There’s a distance as if he is, indeed, the stage manager of this play production. Early on, he tells the audience to shut off their cellphones, as we’re sure Wilder would have approved.
The script has been pared down as well. Normally three full acts, it is now a 100-minute no intermission journey. Some of my colleagues think little was cut other than a baseball sequence. But we personally think there are many lines missing because some characters such as the fathers seem thinner in passages that had given them that needed third dimension.
Indeed, the production lacks both a lyrical lightness or a worthy weightiness that this classic play usually engenders.
All of the above may be a side-effect of Leon’s skillful steady pacing in which the entire evening flows smoothly and evenly like a country stream that never pauses. Some observers perceived it as rushed, but most of us rode the wave easily.
Which brings us to the view of this critic who has seen at least five other productions, read the script a dozen times and nearly played the Stage Manager in 12th grade until the headmaster pulled the plug.
The third section about the incalculably invaluable elements of everyday life that we foolishly take for granted, that aspect lands solidly in almost every production – high praise due Wilder. It’s hard not to be deeply moved as Emily relives one ordinary day of her life only to discover how the most commonplace events are precious beyond price.
But the almost fact-driven simplicity of the first two acts have always had a much harder time enrapturing audiences. Often it is so laid back that it flirts with being too ordinary, such as miming making breakfast which relies on the charisma of the actresses to keep the audience captivated. It all usually gets by, but sometimes by The Skin of Their Teeth. (Minor Wilder joke here).
I mean can anybody justify the impact of the cute letter addressee scene as an effective dramatic act-closer?
And yet everyone connected to this production from hard-working lighting designer Allen Lee Hughes to sound designer Justin Ellington to Beowulf Boritt’s rough wooden backdrop and lanterns hanging like stars into the auditorium, everyone from Leon to the town drunk come close to nailing the overall experience – if not quite hitting the theatrical ball out of the park.
Our Town playing through Jan. 19 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 243 W. 47th Street. For tickets https://www.ourtownbroadway.com/
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