'Wonderland' Captures Old Hollywood Allure

Fame, that glorious accolade that is so rarely attained, and once tasted, is constantly yearned for again.  It is a tale as old as time here in Hollywood, where Gloria Swanson roams the hills in a dilapidated mansion, and gawkers flock to place a hand in some long ago imprint in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater.

If it was not for the ocean front setting of System Wonderland, which recently opened at South Coast Repertory, it could easily be mistaken for an updated glance at Billy Wilder's haunting noir, "Sunset Blvd."

That is not say David Wiener's book is a timeless classic, but it certainly echoes such fears as fading stardom and usurping youths that must constantly plague the show business elite.  Jerry (Robert Desiderio) and Evelyn (Shannon Cochran) were once, presumably, a Hollywood power couple, with Jerry penning an Oscar winning script and Evelyn gracing the silver screen with her bombshell looks.  Unfortunately, for these two, time has passed them by, and their once sought after work is no longer relevant in a hipper Hollywood.

While Jerry and Evelyn are left behind in the wake of a fresh new industry, they still long for a comeback, while a conniving youngster, Aaron (John Sloan), enters the picture under the pretense of observing the great Jerry as he drafts his latest script.  Little does the elder know, but ambition is the only game on Aaron's mind, and in the end, the new boy in town steals the credit as he steps over his mentor's head.

Hollywood's faded stars get the requisite name drops, from Marty to Coppola, as Wiener tries to engage the audience with witty dialogue that strives for Mamet perfection.  Speed-the-Plow it is not, as the first act slowly finds its footing, though things do fall into an energetic cadence along the way, accurately capturing the mindset of a creative type struggling for a revival.  Like a defibrillator, the wonder kid (Aaron) stirs up the creative juices in Jerry's household, while also kindling the fire of Evelyn's long lost passion.

Director David Emmes has a great cast to work with, as Desiderio wields the power of a hot-headed and scorned screenwriter perfectly in System Wonderland, seemingly having great fun in the mile-a-minute speeches and often over-the-top antics. 

Sloan is a menacing ingénue, capturing that fresh out of film school eagerness to rise to the top, no matter who is run over in the process, while Cochran has that sunken feeling of a star long forgotten.  Constantly focusing on the past, as she watches old film clips on a projector, Cochran's Evelyn is not fully a Norma Desmond, but is not far off.

Myung Hee Cho's set design is an ideal time capsule of a 1970's beach front home, most likely in a Malibu locale, which, coupled with the Oscar statuette atop the mantle, screams old Hollywood.  Along with Lap-Chi Chu's lighting and Tom Cavnar's sound design, System Wonderland showcases the allure of a bygone Golden Age in Hollywood.

This world premiere production of System Wonderland plays through May 13 at South Coast Repertory's Julianne Argyros Stage.  Tickets can be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or by visiting the box office at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa.

Photos by Henry DiRocco/SCR.  (Top) Robert Desiderio, John Sloan and Shannon Cochran.  (Bottom) Shannon Cochran.