In The Winning Ticket, sloppy employee Jimmy (David Allan Walker) is ecstatic: he's won the lottery, it's $37 million, and he's about to tell the stuffed shirt boss where to stuff it. Mousey secretary Stella (Elizabeth Ann Townsend) at first protects Jimmy, then avows her love and then hopes they'll quit together. Then...a highly amusing turnaround. The play's charming, funny, beautifully directed and acted, with a particularly winning turn by Ms. Townsend.
In Kissing the Statue of Liberty, daughter Blake (Dee Dee Friedman) has a reunion with mom Sophie (Gerianne Raphael) at Battery Park Promenade, where Mom can practically kiss ... etc. But matters go from bad to worse as Blake reveals some nasty truths no mom would want to hear. Nice intense performances by the pair under author Michele Rosenthal's direction. In Kevin Barry, set in a Dublin pub, bartender Pat (Munro M. Bonnell) at first chats warmly with Kevin (Eric Walton), then informs the lad of his drastic, terrible fate. Melodramatic in the good sense of the word, the very short play packs a punch. Good direction and performances.
The most complex play of the evening, Leroy, Randy and Me, takes place backstage at a Broadway theater just after final curtain. Ushered on by gatekeeper Pop (Larry Yelder) middle-aged Cheryl (Kit LeFever) wants to pay her respects to the star, Randy (Rick Eisenberg), who had been a childhood chum at elementary school. Will he remember her? Her psychiatrist husband Allen (Michael Jankowitz) goes from blase to overly patient to irritated about Cheryl's little project. Randy finally appears and goes from egocentric to patiently listening. The non-visible Leroy of the title, a former classmate, stands between them all; they're all jealous of him. There's a cute turnabout as Cheryl ultimately takes control of the situation, downing even her shrink hubby. Very nice performances by all, under playwright Levenstein's solid direction.
Subtitle:
Series B Plays: The Winning Ticket, Kissing The Statue of Liberty, Kevin Barry, Leroy, Randy, and Me.
Opened:
August 19, 1999
Ended:
August 21, 1999
Country:
USA
State:
New York
City:
New York
Company/Producers:
42nd Street Workshop
Theater Type:
off-off-Broadway
Theater:
42nd Street Workshop
Theater Address:
432 West 42nd Street
Phone:
(212) 695-4173
Genre:
One-Acts
Director:
<I>Winning Ticket</I>: Stephen Roylance; <I>Kissing</I>: Michele Rosenthal; <I>Kevin Barry</I>: Donna Mitchell; <I>Leroy</I>: Alvin Levenstein
Review:
Cast:
<I>Ticket:</I> Elizabeth Ann Townsend, David Allan Walker; <I>Statue of Liberty:</I> Dee Dee Friedman, Gerianne Raphael; <I>Kevin Barry:</I> Munro M. Bonnell, Eric Walton; <I>Leroy, Randy and Me:</I> Rick Eisenberg, Michael Jankowitz, Kit LeFever, Larry Yelder.
Critic:
Diana Barth
Date Reviewed:
August 1999
