reviews >> Barefoot in the Park

When is the honeymoon over? As soon as the first fight starts.

For Corrie Bratter (Mary K. King) and Paul Bratter (Derek Wright), the first fight happens barely ten days into their wedded bliss. Corrie impetuously sets up a blind date for her housewife mother with the aging Don Juan who lives upstairs. The evening includes ferry rides, exotic foods, and way too much ouzo.

Back home in their apartment, Corrie accuses Paul of being a stuffed shirt and Paul tells Corrie to grow up. There’s also the little matter of the apartment, which Corrie picked, that has five flights of stairs, no heat, a leaky closet, and snow coming through a hole in the skylight.

It doesn’t really matter what the fight is about because all newlyweds have one. The rose-colored glasses come off and your new spouse isn’t perfect, in fact, your new spouse is actually horrible in many ways. As Corrie says to Paul, “I just realized we have nothing in common.” 

The fight scene in Act II was executed perfectly. Corrie’s anger could be felt in the audience. When she points a finger at Paul, I half expected a lightening bolt to come out of it. Wright does an equally good job as the calm, steady Paul. When his emotions finally overflow his walls of reserve, Paul thrusts a dagger into Corrie’s heart with his cruel comments.

The blind date scene has some clever moments, particularly in the performance of Bill Northenor as the flamboyant Victor Velasco. The naughty twinkle in his eye and his indistinct foreign accent make him quirky and thoroughly charming.

Jo Ann Green plays Corrie’s mother. It seems to take awhile for Green to come out of her shell. In the first act, it’s hard to decide if she’s playing a guilt-giving Jewish mother, or a simple, dowdy housewife. She finally breaks through in the third act with an excellent performance and we can see a cohesive character.

Will Husky (telephone repairman) and Ron Brinner (deliveryman) do their bit parts well. Husky always contributes a touch of comedy and he adds just the right amount to his scenes.

Part of Neil Simon’s genius lies in his New York style of sarcasm which requires a delicate delivery and perfect timing to bring out its full flavor, somewhat like Victor Velasco’s gourmet appetizer. That fine subtlety is what’s missing from the first act. While the emotionally charged scenes of the second and third acts are performed well, the first act fails to completely engage the audience. Lines that should get a hearty laugh only produced a few timorous chuckles.

Director Joseph Ginnane has taken the challenge of recreating one of Broadway’s most memorable plays on Macon Little Theatre’s stage. He’s done a fantastic job with the cast and the set.

While the show was not as exciting as a ferry ride in February and drinking ouzo at an Armenian restaurant, it was still fun to see the Simon classic.

If you go:

When: 8:00 p.m. Saturday, Sept.11; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12; and 8:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Sept. 14-18

Where: Macon Little Theatre, 4220 Forsyth Road, Macon

Cost: $16 adults; $14 seniors (60 and over); $11 students

Phone: Reservations and info: (478) 471-7529

Web: www.maconlittletheatre.org