Plaza Sweet and Sour

Good news: StageCenter produced another show worth seeing in Plaza Suite. StageCenter’s prior show, Talk Radio, had been a rousing success, but it had been a variable year for the Valley’s oldest community theater. The Phantom, ever the cautious sage, wondered if Radio was a fluke. Had StageCenter turned a corner? Were they on their way back up? They hedged their bets by staging a solid, time-tested, award-winning Neil Simon play — but then they didn’t seem to tell anybody about it. The local newspaper was evidently unaware that the show existed—either that or they’re carrying a grudge against the SC folks—so whoever’s handling publicity over there again dropped the ball. Nevertheless, a decent number of patrons showed up the night The Phantom dropped by, and we all found ourselves watching a three-act trio of mini-plays. (Must The Phantom now do three reviews?) [Yes and no.] {And off we go.}

Plaza Suite is a look at the lives of three couples who occupy the same room (on different occasions) at the famous Plaza Hotel in New York. It’s the late 1960s, and the lights go up on a gilded Motel 8-ish setting, complete with bar! Were this play 100% accurate, all the characters would have taken full advantage of the bar and they would have been smoking while doing so. Those were the days. The Phantom is nostalgic about his nicotine-and-alcohol-fueled past. He thinks, nay, he knows that those grownup habits made him irresistibly attractive to the ladies back when he was 16. Ah, misspent youth! Now, being a tad wiser, The Phantom still enjoys the occasional Marlboro Light, but he vows to quit every night.

In the first act, we met Karen and Sam Nash, a suburban couple staying at the Plaza because their home is being painted. Karen, an endearing, ditzy sort, was trying to rekindle some fire in their relationship by staying in the same suite they had stayed in 23 (or 24?) years earlier on their wedding night. The self-absorbed, vainglorious Mr. Nash had the kind of disregard for his flighty spouse that comes from forbearance and familiarity, and so The Phantom (who, as you will recall, has been carefully reading StageCenter programs ever since he unwittingly stumbled through that warp in the space-time continuum that led him to experience the alternate reality known as La Turista without adequate supplies of food, water, or clues) [you’ll note, however, that despite that challenging experience, he has stared destiny and fate in the face and returned to StageCenter for subsequent shows] {what a guy The Phantom is} <really, he’s indomitable> /where were we? Oh, right\ was intrigued and somewhat amused to find that Karen and Sam are actually married to each other in real life. Sam was a cheating chauvinist who either ignored or belittled his spouse. Were these people acting? Generous and charitable, The Phantom wants to believe that they were perfectly nice people, but they seemed, shall we say, perhaps too comfortable in their roles. There was real chemistry between them, and much of it was caustic.

The Phantom hadn’t seen this couple before, but he enjoyed their banter and authentic (?) performances, and he looks forward to seeing if they can play roles that fall further out of their comfort zone. Karen rushed some of her lines, but she let her world fall apart quite effectively without becoming screechy. Sam left us with a semblance of sympathy as he did seem to have some genuine affection for his soon-to-be-estranged wife.

The Phantom also enjoyed the luscious Miss McCormack, the object of Sam’s affection, in spite of her clipped delivery. He flashed back to a very profitable prior life (The Phantom has been reincarnated several times) [once, with surprising success, as a horned frog] when he saw her banana-hued outfit, complete with go-go boots. She was a babe and The Phantom hopes to see her again. Overall, the act left The Phantom with a lump in his throat—its story was not a happy one—and he eagerly drowned his sorrows with the adult privations available at the SC concession stand. He hoped for something lighter in the acts to follow. This was Neil Simon, after all.

Act Two introduced us to Jesse Kiplinger, a quasi-slimy playa, an ex-New Jersey native who has made it big in Hollywood. He was in New York for business, but his mind was set on re-seducing his high-school sweetheart, Muriel Tate, a middle-aged hausfrau from Tenafly. She had stars in her eyes and a bottomless appetite for Hollywood news, and we all knew she’d succumb to Jesse’s charms (if that word can be said to apply here) because she seemed to have glitter on her décolletage. (The Phantom, ever the cautious sage, has learned that it is very good news when a date shows up with glitter on her breasts.) [See above, with regard to a profitable prior life.] {Disregard the horned frog. Frogs don’t do glitter. Except by accident.} Our leads here were again well-matched, but with less desirable results. He was lethargic and she stilted. The blocking left us dozing until the end when discussions broke out among the patrons regarding what was in the rafters that had Muriel’s rapt attention as Jesse rocked and scootched her towards the bedroom in a painful (but in better hands, one assumes, a potentially hilarious) seduction march. Perhaps she saw angels, or her lines were scribed on the drops. We have seen Jesse before when he was better. This time, he seemed to stumble his way through his lines. That we were so aware they were “lines” is troubling in itself, but Muriel kept reminding us that these were carefully scripted lines that had little to do with the way she was actually feeling.

But The Phantom hung on, cheered considerably by the realization that Act Two was half the length of Act One. What was in store for Act Three?

A pleasant surprise, to be sure. Awaiting us were two veterans of the community theater stage. Roy Hubley was portrayed by an old workhorse who, once again, did not disappoint. He was very good as the beleaguered father of a bride who has locked herself in the bathroom right before the ceremony. His frustration mounted and loudness ensued, but one of the act’s best bits was his transformation through heroic self-control into a tender, kindly sounding board for his daughter. Paired with Roy was another familiar face as Norma Hubley. She was very fortunate in having such a reliable, talented scene partner, and she parried his Simon-esque quips with a hysteria that served Roy well.

The fact that Norma and Roy were so physically different enhanced the comedic nature of the act. Roy is tall and Norma is not, but they were matched in the yelling department. Roy nailed the facial expressions and his timing was superb. Norma got a wee bit one-note at times but we thoroughly enjoyed her mini-logue about being more than just a mother. Funny stuff, and a credit to the clever writing of Neil Simon.

The Phantom was also charmed by the “cool” groom and the lovely bride.

Norma and Roy were suitably matched but not extraordinarily matched. Would Norma have shined more brightly had she been more evenly matched with a lesser co-star? Perhaps. And this is why The Phantom, a (cautious) sage, continues to ponder the lessons in stage chemistry that were presented us with this production of Plaza Suite.

Here were three plays in one. Three pairings of actors and actresses. Act One a remarkable chemistry undoubtedly gleaned from real life. Act Two: no chemistry but equally poor performances. Act Three: A slight mismatch of skill but still a functional and funny performance. Well done, indeed. Are we to applaud the director for matching these thespians up as well as she did? If she had moved our actors around and paired them differently, would it have been a better play? We don’t think so. Act Two was the weakest, but it still managed to amuse. The play finished strong and on an up-note that left us smiling.

Regardless of these trivial musings about the profundities of casting, this StageCenter production truly represented the “community” of community theater. It provided a pleasant mélange of talent and a pleasant evening of the fine words of Neil Simon admirably performed by a hearty crew of amateur thespians.

StageCenter, keep up the good work. The Phantom looks forward to seeing what you come up with next.

Other than that, it was great.

The Phantom