Review: THE SABBATH GIRL Lights Up Penguin Rep Theatre Through May 26

[Pictured from left] Max Wolkowitz (Seth), Lauren Singerman (Rachel)
Photo credit: Dorice Arden Madronero

Who said musical theater needs a full orchestra to properly entertain an audience? 

A piano, bass, cello, percussion and harp were all The Fantasticks needed to last more than 17,000 performances across four decades, earning it the distinction of world’s longest-running musical.

These days, even for marquee Broadway musicals, like Funny Girl, an electronic keyboard (aka synthesizer), filled in with other instruments, works wonders.

And so it is that for a thoroughly engaging vestpocket musical called The Sabbath Girl, at Penguin Rep Theatre in Stony Point through May 26, a few instruments readily fill the bill.

I appreciated that the plentiful and pleasing musical numbers were brought to vibrant life by a keyboardist (Matthew Lowy) and a pair of cello players (Katie Chambers and Caty Butler). Props too to Musical Director Matthew Lowy, Musical Supervisor and Arranger Wendy Bobbitt Cavett, and Orchestrator Alex Wise, for skillfully creating a wholly satisfying soundscape. 

A TRIO OF THIRTYSOMETHINGS

The Sabbath Girl revolves around a trio of thirtysomething Manhattan dwellers.  

Angie Mastrantoni (Marilyn Caserta), an Italian-American reared in New Jersey has just moved to new digs in Manhattan and is obsessed with making a success of her Lower East Side art gallery. 

Between her career ambitions and coming off a two-year relationship with a cheater, romance is the last thing on her mind, much to the chagrin of her Nonna, Sophia (Diana DiMarzio), who wants her granddaughter to chase her dreams, as long as they include a man, natch.

Enter Seth Konig (Max Wolkowitz), who lives down the hall. He’s an Orthodox Jew, whose Konig’s Knishes shop happens to be near Angie’s gallery. But wait, there’s more. Also enter Blake (Rory Max Kaplan), a full-of-himself artist on the rise (and on the make) whose hot paintings Angie would love to have grace her gallery (ka-ching! ka-ching!). 

If Blake weren’t in the fine art trade, his swagger could get him gigs as an Elvis impersonator. Mr. Kaplan clearly relishes the rock star vibe, and so does the audience. 

If all that exposition spells “rom-com” to you, well of course it does. Where things get interesting in this emerging love triangle is that each weekend, from sunset Friday, for the next 24 hours, as a strictly observant Orthodox Jew, Seth needs a so-called “Shabbos goy” (translated to “Sabbath non-Jew”) to do simple tasks like replace a light bulb or turn on the air conditioner out of respect to the faith’s fully immersive day of rest.

MUTUAL ALLURE

Despite the chasm of their cultural differences, both Angie and Seth each recognizes an allure for the other. But let’s not forget about too-cool-for-school Blake, the type who’s constantly wearing shades, even in a dimly-lit wine bar. As Angie’s conflicting attractions to Blake and Seth take shape, she recognizes that his artistic gift aside, Blake the person is more style than substance.

Seth is the opposite – more substance than style. Angie could learn to live with that. The obstacle, for her and Seth both, is his older sister Rachel (Lauren Singerman), who is fiercely protective of her brother.

All three are strong performers who create convincing, heartfelt relationships and move comfortably in and out of the musical interludes. 

As Sophie, Ms. DiMarzio makes the most of her intermittent appearances, exuding the warmth and expansiveness synonymous with the Italian culture of famiglia.

Shmearing no small dollop of guilt on Seth’s conscience, Rachel exploits her brother’s crisis of faith, and lords it over him. She can’t bear the prospect of his dating, let alone marrying, someone outside their faith. (When Rachel impresses on Seth the priceless value of Orthodox Jews being “safer together,” it has an unsettling resonance in the context of today’s hellacious headlines.)   

MUSICAL REINCARNATION

Written by Penguin Rep playwright-in-residence Cary Gitter, The Sabbath Girl was originally produced at the charming Rockland County theatre as a straight play. Its musical reincarnation was conceived by Penguin Artistic Director Joe Brancato, with Mr. Gitter authoring the book, Neil Berg writing the music and both penning the lovely lyrics. Mr. Brancato also directed the show, with his usual showman’s instinct for brisk pacing and concise storytelling. 

As Oscar Hammerstein II taught protege Stephen Sondheim, the essence of effective musical theater writing is simplicity, and these lyricists seem to have learned that lesson. Their clean, rhyming wordplay neatly fulfills another golden rule of musical theater – songs must propel, not impede, the narrative.  

The composing team of Gitter and Berg turn out some very serviceable tunes that drive both the story and the character arcs with a simple style that helps the passionate performers invest their characters with a lot of heart. 

Standouts include Sophia’s nostalgic ode to legendary Manhattan dance hall “Roseland,” Seth’s “The Knish Song,” Rachel’s “Something Bigger Than Us,” Blake and Angie’s “I Wanna Paint You,” and Angie’s climactic “A Life in Art,” where her belter chops bring the house down. 

CULTURAL TOUCHSTONES

Mr. Gitter’s book accents the budding romance between Angie and Seth with cultural touchstones, such as lighting shabbos candles and references to the Talmud (Judaism’s book of laws). He also sprinkles in Yiddish colloquialisms – including meshuga (crazy), emmis (truth), shtup (intercourse), shiksa (gentile woman), bashert (destiny), zayde (grandfather), and mitzvah (good deed). 

A hallmark of Penguin Rep productions is its ingeniously economical sets, designed to make the most of a stage that sits inside an 1880 repurposed barn – and I can vouch from my many visits to Penguin Rep that its stadium seating and sightlines are as audience-friendly as it gets.

For The Sabbath Girl, through the use of flat panel wainscoting that rotates. So we follow the action, fluidly and instantly, from Angie’s apartment to Seth’s place to the knish shop to Angie’s gallery.  

Scenic Designers are Christopher and Justin Swader. Costume Designer is Gregory Gale. Lighting Designer is Jamie Roderick. Sound Designer is Kwamina Biney. Buffy Cardoza is Properties Designer. Production Manager is Sarah French and Stage Manager is Michael Palmer. Movement Consultant is Ryan Kasprzak.

Executive Director of Penguin Rep Theatre is Andrew M. Horn.

For tickets, show times and other information – penguinrep.org, 845-786-2873. 

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