Through Sun 10/3

Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound opened the 2021-2022 theater season September 10 in the Beck Center for the Arts. Directed by William Roudebush, and staged in the updated Senney Theater, the drama/comedy draws from the author’s life. The story veers from family dynamics (did dad wet the bed again?) to life’s mundane details (is the pot roast hot?) to Simon’s efforts to be a writer (will I ever make it big?). It’s not a spoiler to say that he succeeded (Tony Award, Pulitzer Prize, Broadway shows, hit films), but it’s possible that the first success illustrated here proved to be his most exciting one.

That story, with a thinly disguised Simon as 23-year-old Eugene Jerome (Zach Palumbo), seems persuasive — in part because the viewpoint is limited to the author’s at that age. Eugene (or Gene) and his 28-year-old brother, Stan Jerome (Daniel Telford), still live in their childhood home in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, with their mother Kate (Susan Stein), father Jack (Alan Safier), and grandfather, Ben Epstein (Austin Pendleton). What the brothers crave is make it big as writers in New York City. This play ends as their careers take off, they move out, and their family falls apart.

Austin Pendleton had the first words and (almost) the last as Ben Epstein, the seemingly befuddled family patriarch. His 77-year-old character comes onstage mumbling and looking more asleep than awake, but he’s often more attuned to family situations than his grandchildren realize. Pendleton handled the part with appeal, as one might expect, but as I watched I kept thinking “This is the perfect role for any actor.” Stumbling over words? Forgetting what was said? All part of the character being played — a caricature of an old man. Pendleton made us believe Ben’s sly befuddlement and, at the same time, applaud the loyalty he shows his daughter as the drama concludes.

Palumbo and Telford, as the bro writing duo, respond to each other in true brother fashion — best friends one minute, scornful rivals the next. Palumbo’s direct addresses to the audience make Gene seem likeable and believable. As the older brother, Telford effectively conveys the authority that older brothers seem to naturally exude.

As the dutiful Kate, Stein shows as much about a mother’s usefulness at home as the script will allow. She cooks, cleans and puts up with being the only woman in a house of men. Kate’s sister, Blanche (Anne McEvoy), makes a brief appearance. McEvoy, decked in furs, persuasively conveys her status as a rich woman who has left Brighton Beach behind. Safier as Jack (the father) powerfully reveals his character’s dissatisfaction with his own role as breadwinner stuck in an authoritative, but evidently boring, job in the garment industry.

Scenic design by Cheri DeVol seemed spot on. We see a cut-out two-story version of a modest home in 1949 Brooklyn. The dining table, the buffet, the couch, all suggest a typical mid-2oth century home. The huge cabinet-size radio plays a key role as the family gathers around to hear the brother’s radio script.

In addition, Betty Pitcher (costume designer), Tim Chrisman (lighting designer), Angie Hayes (sound designer) and Hayley Baran (stage manager) all helped bring us back to the “olden days” of the last century.

Bottom Line: Yes, it was weird to be back in a theater for the first time since COVID, but it was great. The Beck’s thoughtfully directed Broadway Bound offers a potpourri of dramatic styles. We have stand-up comedy routines, marital angst, diatribes about social issues, and information about where writers get their material. As to the latter, what else is family for?

Mask up (most of the audience near me seemed to know how to wear a mask on opening night) and enjoy. Broadway is back at the Beck.

Ticket Info: Individual and group tickets are available at beckcenter.org with single ticket prices from $34 (adults), $30 (for seniors 65 and older) and $12 for students with valid ID. Running September 10 to October 3, 2021, curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. An additional performance will take place on Thursday, September 30. For more information on the entire 2021-22 Professional Theater Season please visit beckcenter.org.

[Written by Laura Kennelly]