BWW Reviews: Desert Theatreworks' LOST IN YONKERS Deserves To Be Found by Audiences

Desert Theatreworks (DTW), a nonprofit theatre company in Palm Desert, has served up a delectable production of Neil Simon's LOST IN YONKERS, at the Joslyn Center's Arthur Newman Theatre. The production is ably directed by Lance Phillips-Martinez. This is the perfect opportunity to take kids from about eight years old on up to a show that will both keep their attention and educate them on what life was like for a middle class family during World War II.

LOST IN YONKERS, which won Neil Simon a Pulitzer Prize, is better classified as a "dramedy" than a comedic piece. The story, told from the point of view of 13 and 15-year-old brothers, Arty and Jay Kurnitz, takes place in 1942, in Yonkers, New York. Their mother has recently died of cancer and their father, Eddie, takes them to visit his own mother, whom the boys haven't seen in many years. After meeting privately with Grandma Kurnitz, Eddie admits to his sons that he owes a loan shark nine-thousand dollars that he borrowed for his late wife's care. The good news is that the war has given him the opportunity to repay the debt through a high-paying job traveling through the South selling scrap metal. The accompanying bad news: The boys must live for a year with their reluctant grandmother, who rules even the adult members of her family with an iron fist.

The cast members all resist the temptation to allow the difficult material to descend into farce or melodrama. The teens who play the brothers, Cameron Keys and Angus Reath, pull off quite a feat for young performers: In addition to using voice inflection to convey emotions, they also successfully employ facial expressions to demonstrate their moods.

The actors playing the three main adult characters, June August as the hard and broken Grandma Kurnitz, Stephen Blackwell as small-time hoodlum Uncle Louie, and Daniela Ryan as the intellectually disabled Aunt Bella, ably fill the large shoes of the roles' Broadway originators - Irene Worth, Kevin Spacey, and Mercedes Ruehl. Ms. August holds her face in a frown stiff enough to be a mask, until her inner steel finally breaks and her face crumples in a perfect expression of despair. Mr. Blackwell's Uncle Louie adopts a devil-may-care attitude, until his eyes flash and his voice descends into a snarl, as if a bomb has suddenly exploded. Daniela Ryan breezily portrays the forgetful, terrified, intellectually disabled grown child who relies on her mother for everything, until she finds her own inner strength. Ms. Ryan chooses to play Bella without outward signs of disability, which leads the audience to question whether how much of Bella's condition is intellectual impairment and how much is mental illness brought on by her dysfunctional surroundings.

Gregg Aratin as Eddie, and Adina Lawson as Gert do a great job in the supporting roles. Gert, who has breathing difficulties whenever she gets near her tyrannical mother, supplies the show's comic relief, thanks to Ms. Lawson's deliberately over-the-top performance. Eddie is a hard-luck, good-natured man whom life has given lemons, but strives to make lemonade. Mr. Aratin captures Eddie's sadness and his optimism perfectly.

In addition to the successful acting performances, the technical and artistic directors and crew deliver a visually appealing production. Being overdressed in uncomfortable suits in the first scene helps convey the boys' discomfort as they wait in the blistering heat for their grandmother to grant them an audience. Ron Phillips-Martinez's set, which uses separate areas of the stage for different rooms, relies on lighting to move the characters from room to room and scene to scene. The choice to use lighting instead of scenery changes allows an elaborate, detailed set that resembles a real house. My only quibble is that the house, with its comfortable-looking dining room furniture and soothing pictures on the wall, seems too haimish to belong to the austere Mrs. Kurnitz.

DTW, operated by married couple Lance and Ron Phillips-Martinez (artistic and executive directors, respectively), is producing an ambitious seven plays and musicals during the 2014-15 season, the company's second year. The organization's mission is to present imaginative, innovative, and entertaining productions. LOST IN YONKERS succeeds in fulfilling that mission.

Other production credits include Briana Taylor (assistant director and costumes); DeLane Marianowits (stage manager/lighting design); Priscilla Lawson (props); Tanner Lieser (light board); Alex Updike (sound board); Florentino Carillo (sound design); Kathy Taylor-Smith (makeup and hair); and Stephen McMillen (stage crew).

LOST IN YONKERS will be presented on January 23 and 24, 2015, at 7 p.m. and on January 24th and 25th at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at www.dtworks.org or by calling 760-980-1455. Tickets are also available in person in the Joslyn Center lobby, at 73-750 Catalina Way, in Palm Desert, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Arthur Newman Theatre is located in the Joslyn Center. The company's remaining productions for the season are NUNSENSE and PSYCHO BEACH PARTY (March 6-15, 2015 and April 10-19, 2015). In addition, every Saturday in February, DTW will present readings of classic plays. Check the Web site for more information.

Parents and teachers hoping to use LOST IN YONKERS as an educational opportunity can find a study guide at http://www.steelriver.org/education/study-guides/study-guide-lost-in-yonkers/ .

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