The Sunshine Boys
My thoughts on Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys or…aging vaudevillians give it one more try.
The Sunshine Boys, a 1972 Tony Award nominated comedy from Neil Simon, explores the relationship of two former vaudevillians. Willie Clark and Al Lewis, who were once a celebrated comedy team known as The Sunshine Boys. Their act ended acrimoniously years ago. However, if their differences can be resolved and Willie, the much more cantankerous of the two, agrees, they will appear on a network comedy special where one of their classic sketches will be featured.
Tackling any of Neil Simon’s 1970’s work these days is problematic. There’s just no escaping the fact that it’s dated and that what was funny in 1972 now seems slow and dusty. Director Michael Serrecchia, especially in the second act, mines the gold that is still there and has cast the show with terrific performers who handle this nostalgic journey with aplomb.
Evan Faris’s Willie Clark is the very definition of a curmudgeon. His memory is failing, and he revels in his past glory days. His memory may be dimming but his wit is still quick. When Willie’s nephew warns him about the high sodium content in pickles, Willie replies, “I spit out the sodium.” Faris, while capturing all of Willie’s irascibility and sarcastic remarks, skillfully and subtly, gives the character a lovability factor and an underlying vulnerability.
Willie’s nemesis is his former partner, Al Lewis played by Jon Morehouse. Gifted with a wonderfully resonant theatrical voice, Morehouse makes Al a charmer. He’s not as set in his ways or as irritable as Willie and much more reasonable. Morehouse’s Al is avuncular with an edge and sometimes seems to enjoy antagonizing Willie a bit. Watching Willie and Al trading vitriolic barbs is one of the pleasures of The Sunshine Boys.
Jason Crawford Jordan is Willie’s nephew and agent Ben. Ben loves his uncle but putting up with crotchety Willie is a challenge. “You give me chest pains Uncle Willie…I only get chest pains on Wednesdays,” Ben laments. Willie replies, “So come on Tuesdays.” Jordan embodies the harried, nervous nephew so well he made me want to give him a Xanax.
There are two nurses involved in the story. Rhonda Triana appears as the nurse in the vaudeville doctor sketch that Willie and Al perform. Triana is hilarious playing this politically incorrect blonde bimbo of a character that Willie tries repeatedly to put in provocative positions.
Hilarious in a completely different manner is LisaAnne Haram as the Registered Nurse who cares for Willie as he recovers from a heart attack. Haram’s nurse is totally immune to the wiles and remarks of Willie and answers every one of them with a dead pan delivery that makes for one of the funniest and best scenes of the play. Haram has mastered Scene Stealing 101.
Also appearing in the play are Adrian Gomez as the frustrated tv studio production assistant Eddie, Evan Christopher Arnold who is the epitome of the handsome, buttoned down tv announcer, and Leo Adrian Vibal who has a comic cameo as a patient in the doctor sketch.
Hank Baldree has created a phenomenal set for the show. Willie Clark’s badly in need of refurbishing residence hotel suite is so amazingly detailed by Baldree that I found myself noticing every crack in the plaster. It took much ingenuity to make the place so realistically shabby. Indeed, all the creative elements of the show are strong from Mia Lindemann’s lighting to Rich Froelich’s sound to the costumes from Micharl A. Robinson/Dallas Costume Shoppe.
The Sunshine Boys is the third play I have seen directed by Michael Serrecchia in less than a month and he never fails to impress me with his gift for staging and his loving treatment of characters. Serrecchia, his gifted creative team, and the incredibly talented actors make this funny, sweetly poignant, nostalgic play about friendship, fame, and the challenges of aging, a pleasure.
Photos by Kris Ikejiri
