An actor's nightmare must surely have him struggling to audition for a role while supporting himself taking reservations for a trendy, top-rated Manhattan restaurant. In its equivalent of The Lower Depths, abandoned by the head and assistant reservationist, Sam must handle intercom and outside phone calls from over 30 people. Except for his lonely widowed father and a brother who can't help get himself or Sam home for Christmas, the callers prove self-important, threatening, bribing, silly, cheating, stupid, timid, clueless, haughty, misunderstanding, abusive, criminal.
Sam's conflicts take a boring while to establish but become more interesting in the last half of the intermissionless goings-on, on the one hand marked by a "crappy" incident involving commands from Chef, on the other, a series of unexpected rewards from patrons to whom Sam commits. Set-ups that just poop out: a dictate never to accept one Ned Findlay and Sam's attempts to free-throw water cups. Cleverly depicted: a Japanese woman with little English obviously using a reservation "script." Nice surprise: vocal gender confusion.
An actor's dream must be accomplishing a tour de force that'll thrill an audience no matter what his material. For Kraig Swartz here, it's a dream come true. He's helped by his director's obvious confidence, a realistically junky set, funky lighting, and well-timed phone ringing, more than by a script that often stretches too hard for pathos (e.g., the father's calls) or to be cute (Sam sawing pencils; senior citizen complaining about no discount; multiple strictures on food and waitstaff). Importantly, Swartz's Sam is likable throughout, finally meriting the "strong sense of personal entitlement" urged by his agent. By contrast, his restaurant's personnel, as well as most of its wannabe patrons, can't be helping the "new" New York City image.
