Theatre Review—

Comfort Food On TheatreWorks’ Stage

By Julie Stern

TheatreWorks New Milford is so good at what it does, often with more challenging and offbeat works that other local groups either avoid or make a mess of, that it is a change to see them offering a pretty traditional comedy. This month the company is presenting John Patrick Shanley’s Italian-American Reconciliation, and judging by the sell-out crowd on both nights of the opening weekend, there is an audience waiting for just such mellow stuff.

The story (by the screenwriter of the movie Moonstruck) involves angst in New York’s Little Italy neighborhood. Steven Pilla plays the troubled Huey, who is unable to get over his divorce from the local ice queen, Janice, despite the existence of his current girlfriend, Teresa, agreed by the whole neighborhood to be beautiful, easy-going and an excellent cook.

Huey tries dressing as a poet, complete with knee boots and a flowing, open-collared shirt, and writes primal scream attempts to express his misery. When that doesn’t work he enlists the help of his best friend Aldo to intercede on his behalf with Janice, while he himself breaks off his relationship with Teresa.

If this were a television sitcom (or perhaps Cyrano) the couples would end up happily squared away, with Aldo either capturing the heart of Janice himself, or ending up with the much more desirable Teresa. However, things are not that tidy or predictable, and thereby lie the insights and clever lines that give this play a realistic bite.

Chris Simo-Kinzer, as the wise-cracking Aldo, is the star of the production, a vision in polyester see-through shirts, who fancies himself a stud but is actually a spoiled mama’s boy. Also very good, in her first stage role, is Jennifer Harrison as the tough-minded Janice, who likes hearing the truth, and is a little too quick with a zip gun when she doubts the sincerity of the person talking to her. (She also used the gun to kill Huey’s dog, back when they were still married, in order to communicate to him the level of her hostility)

In a variation on Cyrano, Aldo tries to court Janice for himself — out of loyal friendship — in order to force Huey back to Teresa. Things get more complicated when genuine sparks are ignited between Aldo and Janice, only to be dampened by the arrival of Huey, taking masterful possession of the would-be castrating bitch.

The scene switches to a heart-to-heart between Aldo and Teresa’s Aunt May, played by Sonnie Osborne-as-Olympia Dukakis. With the heartbroken Teresa having fled to Canada, Aunt May delivers some sage advice on marriage, aging and the fear of death, causing Aldo to see, for the first time, the nature of his fear of commitment. It’s not that the women out there are no good, he learns, it’s that he doesn’t want to grow up yet. He’d rather have his mother still take care of him.

The acting is good enough to be convincing. We believe Aldo is able to hear what she is telling him, and that perhaps he will think about it and even act on it. Teresa, ably played by Jacqueline Decho, is still up in Canada, and Huey, feeling a lot better at having had his way with Janice at last, can stop dressing like Byron now and get on with his life.

Joe Longo’s talented direction keeps Italian-American Reconciliation moving snappily and wins lots of laughs from the audience, against the background of Italian-American pop hits from the Fifties.  from “That’s Amore” to “Mambo Italiano,” and Artistic Director Bill Hughes has created another stunningly crafted set.

In short, this is comfort-food theater, just what we need during this kind of winter.

(Performances continue through March 17, with curtain Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 and one matinee at 2 pm on Sunday, March 11. Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for students and seniors, and can be reserved by contacting TheatreWorks’ box office at 860/350-6863.)