Theatre Reviews

Cantorial Comes Through
Cast overcomes script inadequacies in Stage Door production

Kevin Reilley, Danielle Tabino and Todd Bruno in Cantorial.

What happens when a couple moves into an old synagogue, only to discover it is haunted by a former cantor? This is the premise of Cantorial, the play from Ira Levin, author of Rosemary’s Baby, The Stepford Wives, and Deathtrap, that opened last weekend at Broward Stage Door.

Talk about a case of misleading advertising---well, sort of. The play is about a couple that moves into an old synagogue, only to discover it is haunted by a former cantor. But if you are expecting the chills of Rosemary’s Baby, the disturbing social satire of The Stepford Wives or the suspense of Deathtrap, then the hype has been misleading.

There are no poltergeists and few chills or thrills in Cantorial. Instead, there is a singing ghost who is annoying at best to the new residents, Warren Ives (Todd Bruno) and Leslie Rosen (Danielle Tabino). As they try to cope with their roommate, the couple discovers the ghost only chants when Jews are in the building. With the help of elderly neighborhood grocer Morris Lipkind (Kevin Reilley), who used to worship at the synagogue, the couple interpret the ghost’s haunting as a desire to have the building restored to its original purpose. This leads Warren to extrapolate an imagined Jewish heritage to compensate for his childhood adoption and strained relations with his adoptive father. After all, the ghost doesn’t sing in the presence of non-Jews. He then undertakes an obsessive quest to restore the synagogue to its former glory.

From this point, Cantorial seems more like Field of Dreams than any of Levin’s prior works. Remember that movie? “If you build it, he will come.” The ghost of baseball player Shoeless Joe convinces an idealistic Iowa farmer, played by Kevin Costner, to build a ballpark in the middle of his cornfield. In the process, he nearly loses his wife and livelihood, and, his friends and family are convinced, his sanity.

Todd Bruno and Danielle Tabino in Cantorial.

That’s pretty much the gist of Cantorial. Warren restores the interior of the synagogue, patches things up with Leslie, learns the truth about his background and completes his personal journey. The satisfied ghost then moves on.

Despite the flaws in a shallow script and some mismanaged expectations, Cantorial—and this Stage Door production, in particular—is an entertaining show.

Under the direction of Michael Leeds, Bruno successfully conveys the heartfelt, if naïve, desire Warren feels to reconcile his roots with the reality of his situation, and Tabino is charming as his exasperated girlfriend. Despite the name “Reilley,” Kevin Reilley finds himself once again playing the Jewish elder, this time Lipkind, coming off a similar role in the summer run in Tony Finstrom’s Knish Alley, also at Stage Door. The largely Jewish audience seemed to approve of his extended Yiddish diatribes with plenty of laughter and audible commentary. Konstantine Afthinos (Quinn) provides some needed comic relief as a cartoonish ghost hunter and Glen Lawrence rounds out the cast well as William Ives, Warren’s smarmy father and an ambitious politician who put his own agenda ahead of his relationship with his son. It would also be remiss to not acknowledge Cantor Jacob Ben-Zion Mendelson, whose sonorous recordings are weaved throughout the production by sound designer Martin Mets.

Cantorial runs through January 3 at Broward Stage Door Theatre in Coral Springs. www.stagedoortheatre.com.


Torture Is Fun
Just check out the Mosaic’s new show and you’ll see why

Cast members of Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them Photo: George Schiavone.

And I thought my “colorful” family was dysfunctional. As we head into the holiday season and the inevitable family reunions, the timing couldn’t have been better for Richard Jay Simon and his Mosaic Theatre to introduce South Florida audiences to the wacky and weird family at the center of Christopher Durang’s Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them.

There are no sacred cows for Durang (just ask the Catholic Church about Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You) and this time he turns his attention to the “traditional” family as idealized in recent years by conservative politicians and commentators for an absurdist romp on the stage.

This family is a far cry from the Andersons, Nelsons or Cleavers: Felicity (Sharon Kremen), a 20-something New York professional, who wakes up in a hotel room after a wild night at Hooters to find herself married to Zamir (Nick Duckart), who might be a terrorist, in the mafia, a drug dealer, or just bipolar, and who insists his name is “Irish.” Mother Luella (Barbara Bradshaw) escapes her unhappy marriage by immersing herself into the tedium of the Broadway theater scene and knitting projects that colorfully coordinate with her dress and mood, and father Leonard (Dave Corey) is a gun-toting, neo-con butterfly collector hell bent on defending the sanctity of American “values.”

Throw in a self-professed “porn again” minister, Reverend Mike (Christian Rockwell), who sidelines as a pornography producer when not spreading the true Gospel; Hildegard (Pamela Roza), a proper, pearl-clutching Republican woman who can’t seem to keep her panties up; and a ventriloquist waiter (Erik Fabregat), and well, you’ve got plenty of material for a side-splitting misadventure.

Durang’s script is smart—chock full of sexual innuendo, theater jokes only an insider can truly appreciate, and plenty of political commentary—but, most importantly, it’s funny, eliciting sidesplitting laughter at every ridiculous turn. A well-rounded, even cast is required to pull off Durang’s humor and director Simon’s team delivers on all counts as each character, in turn, contributes to the zany antics.

Barbara Bradshaw and Sharon Kremen in Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them. Photo: George Schiavone

If there is one flaw with Torture, it also lies in Durang’s script. He weaves an imaginative story, but then doesn’t seem to know how to wrap it up and takes the easy way out. We’re not talking a “Dallas” shower scene here, but it’s close.

Kremen and Duckart deliver strong performances, forced to serve as the “straight guys” for the jokes unfolding around them. It’s Corey and Bradshaw who steal the show with Durang’s outrageous caricatures of the 1950s sitcom father and mother. Corey’s masterful delivery of Leonard’s analysis of the dynamics of the Anderson family on “Father Knows Best” hammers the irony home. And, at one point, Bradshaw continues her incessant knitting despite the fact she has fainted from the shock of a plot development I’d rather not spoil. Kudos also go to Rockwell, Roza and Fabregat for their colorful, cartoonish portrayals in the vital supporting roles.

Sean McClelland once again contributes an imaginative set that reveals surprises as quickly as Durang’s script dishes them out and Matt Corey’s sound design effectively sets the mood for the “drama” that unfolds.

Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them runs through December 13 at the Mosaic Theatre. www.mosaictheatre.com.

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