Review: BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS at Orange Park Community Theatre

Brighton Beach Memoirs began its run at Orange Park Community Theatre on April 1st. Make no mistake, this is no April Fools prank, the cast and crew have put on a lovely performance for Orange Park and the surrounding areas. Something special the audience got to experience was the presentation by the director (Izzy Hague) and the assistant director (Justin Phillips). Both welcomed the audience to the performance by "taking them back" to 1937 with trivia from the specific year in which the play takes place, such as the most popular actor, most popular movie, most popular book, etc. The Neil Simon play that began in 1982 and won the Tony Awards for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play (Matthew Broderick), Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play (Elizabeth Franz), and Best Direction of a Play. Brighton Beach Memoirs follows a family during the Great Depression. The audience views a 15-year-old boy experiencing puberty, a 16.5-year-old female wanting to find fame as a dancer in a Broadway musical, a 13-year-old girl who can do absolutely no wrong, an 18.5-year-old male trying to help contribute to the family income, two adult sisters bottling in their years of frustration, and a head of household trying to hold everyone together with advice, logic, and love.

Eugene (Darby Boyce), also doubling as the narrator, did an astounding job. Boyce's ability to remain in character as the audience was laughing so hard, he had to pause so they could hear the next line was impressive, especially for a 14-year-old. While his awkward love interest is his first cousin, Nora (Ashlyn Brown), the actual chemistry was between he and his brother Stan (Austin Kelley). Boyce and Kelley truly had a brotherly connection that was evident to the audience. Brown was fantastic as Nora, displaying her emotional acting abilities for the audience to view. It is evident Brown is passionate about acting, and that came through in her character whose passion is to be a famous dancer in a Broadway Musical. This was most evident in the confrontation with her mother, Blanche (Kristi Brown), about her future. Not only was she able to deal with the current issue but present the hurt she has had bottled up for years. It was a truly heartbreaking and beautiful scene between mother and daughter. Speaking of presenting hurt built up from years of bottling it up, the scene between Kate (Denise Fernandez) and Blanche (Kristi Brown) embodied the difficulty of dealing with family. Fernandez did a beautiful job of representing an overwhelmed wife, mother, and older sister trying to take care of everyone around her. Kristi Brown did a fantastic job playing the mother and younger sister that feels guilty for being a burden and struggling to raise daughters on her own. As the two argued, you could hear a pin drop in the theatre as the audience watched in anticipation for the explosive conclusion and the reconciliation between the characters. While all these arguments are occurring, there are two characters merely watching everything unfold before them, Jack (Ron Price) and Laurie (Averie Luke). I am not sure what it was, but every time Price's character was handling the various situations in the household, I couldn't help but think how much he reminded me of Jack Lemmon. Anyway, every time Price was on stage, I immediately felt calmer about what I was experiencing because his presence always seemed to diffuse whatever situation was happening. While Laurie (Averie Luke) was a little instigator, constantly bringing up subjects she knew would be a problem, or chiming into conversation she had no business being in. I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me giggle when Luke did so.

Brighton Beach Memoirs was a great community treat! The play will be showing at Orange Park Community Theater April 3rd, 9th, and 10th at 8 PM and matinee shows on the 8th and 9th and 2 PM.

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