Palm Beach Dramaworks’ co-production with GableStage of Joseph
McDonough’s
Ordinary Americans recently
made its triumphant World Premiere on the Dramaworks’ stage.
This stirring new play peels away to the truth
of what it means to be human and to be vulnerable to political polarization,
demagoguery and anti-Semitism.
The
Dramaworks production and playwright Joseph McDonough’s insightful script
touches us all, especially today.
The
1950s may have been “the placid decade,” but underneath all the apparent innocence
of the times American politics and ethnic relations were as fractious as they
are now.
It is an ironic title as the characters in this play were
anything but ordinary, especially our protagonist, Gertrude “Tillie” Berg who brilliantly
and single handedly conceived, wrote, and starred in The Goldbergs, first on radio and then TV for more than two decades. Her extraordinary accomplishments, as a
woman, and a Jew, particularly in a man’s world echo throughout the play. Yet she, her colleagues, especially Philip
Loeb, fell victim to McCarthyism. The
play resonates with the feeling that the ghost of Roy Cohn still stalks the
land.
Ordinary Americans
is performed on a nearly barren stage, serving a multiplicity of scenes in
different places, the audience basically having to fill in for the presentational
nature of Michael Amico’s scenic design.
It is the logical platform for those scene changes, fluidly balancing
the play’s highly dramatic moments and humor to underscore its serious themes.
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David Kwiat, Elizabeth Dimon, Rob Donohoe,
Photo by Samantha Mighdoll
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It is a memory play, opening with a scene in a diner in
Ohio (circa 1958), the I Love Lucy program
on the diner’s TV, quickly transitioning to the NBC studios in NYC in
1950. There stands the indefatigable
Gertrude Berg, playing her spiritual doppelgänger, Molly Goldberg, surrounded
by her TV cast in spotlighted tableau, her husband, “Jake Goldberg” (played by
David Kwiat as Philip Loeb), and “Uncle David” (played by Rob Donohoe as Eli
Mintz), as well as her lifetime assistant Fannie Merrill (played by Margery
Lowe), and TV Production Manager for the show Walter Hart (played by Tom Wahl). All are PBD veterans except David Kwiat who
is making his PBD debut. This dramatic “snapshot”
of the major characters truly sets the stage for the story they will tell.
Elizabeth Dimon’s performance as Gertrude Berg is so graceful
that we forget we are watching a consummate artist at work. While radiating genuine warmth as The Goldbergs creator and star, Dimon’s “Tillie”
does not suffer fools when crossed. Yet,
like her creation Molly, she too has a heart of gold. Her TV family is her family. In fact, at times she wonders “what would Molly
do in this situation?” Or “sometimes I
think Molly is a better me than me.” It
is a difficult role to execute, a bifurcated person, yet Dimon believably conjures
both Tillie and Molly’s kindness and humor. If one wonders how Dimon can play this part with
such heart and soul, it’s because the play was originally her idea as well as her
dream role. She’s been with the play
since its inception and a couple of years of workshopping it at PBD. A perfect fit for such a seasoned actor.
Dimon shows the other side of her character, an increasing
frustration, especially in a maddening chaotic scene in her imagination of her
being surrounded by potential advertisers or networks, screaming at her, multiple
voices simultaneously. Dimon slowly
comes to the conclusion that her Tillie is at the end of her rope yelling
“PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!” And then finally having to admit to herself that it’s
“the first time in my life I feel helpless.”
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David Kwiat, Elizabeth Dimon,
Photo by Alicia Donelan
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While Tillie is the creative engine of the The Goldbergs program, and clearly the
master of her fate, she is surrounded by people dependent on her for their
employment. At the top of the list is
Philip Loeb, who David Kwiat deftly portrays as the perpetual optimist, an advocate
for just causes, such as Actors Equity.
It is he who has to cope with the consequences of being on the infamous
John Birch Society sponsored pamphlet of 151 artists and broadcasters entitled
“Red Fascists and their Sympathizers,” otherwise known as “the Red Channels list.”
(Tillie observes that the way they define “communist” is “anyone they don’t
agree with, union organizers, activists, artists” and especially Jews.)
Kwiat is the ideal Philip, always hoping for the best,
for himself, his colleagues and his son who needs institutional help. He skillfully portrays Philip as a man suffering
increasing desperation; his world falling apart under appalling injustice. Kwiat’s final scene in front of the House
Un-American Activities Committee is powerful as well as heartbreakingly pitiful,
as he finally cries out, “Leave me alone…I’m a citizen and a human being. You can’t take these away from me.” It is a brave performance. You will not forget his exit near the play’s
end.
Tillie’s right hand gal, Fannie, is effectively played by
the PBD veteran Margery Lowe, along with another minor role as “Mrs. Kramer” in
The Goldbergs show itself. Lowe, who is the accomplished professional
having appeared in a number of PBD productions over the past, again comes
through in these important supporting two roles, the efficient, buoyantly
supporting Fannie, and her brief moments at a window as Mrs. Kramer, bellowing
out “Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg!”
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Elizabeth Dimon, Margery Lowe
Photo by Samantha Mighdoll
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Another long-time PBD veteran, Rob Donohoe, plays a
number of roles, showcasing his versatility.
As Eli Mintz he is “Uncle David” in the show,
adding humor and Greek chorus support in the background, Yiddish accent and
all.
Eli Mintz is the play’s Cassandra;
always thinking the “Red List” will metastasize into something serious for the
show (he was right of course).
His interaction
with Philip in particular is filled with much needed humor and affection for
his colleague.
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Elizabeth Dimon, Rob Donohoe,
Photo by Alicia Donelan
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His portrayal of Cardinal Spellman is purposely pedantic,
which speaks to Tillie’s private admonishment of the man, “All
politician, no clergy.” He’s also the
voice of the grand inquisitor, a Senator from the House Un-American Activities
Committee bellowing out at Philip with eerie “witch hunt” hysteria assisted by
David Thomas’ sound design (more on that later).
He has a brief hilarious role as the diner owner in
Dayton Ohio, fumbling his words, touting chicken salad as his special, and
pretending to know the play, The
Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder, which Tillie has come to Dayton late in her
career to play, her television show now an apparition of the past.
PBD veteran Tom Wahl is a jack of all trades in this
show, playing a number of roles, not an easy task to differentiate them all,
but succeeds amazingly. First and
foremost, he is Walter Hart, The
Goldbergs Production Manager on the set, played with exasperation on making
deadlines, clipboard in hand. He also
plays other key roles: as Roger Addington, the General Foods executive who
first brings the “Red Channels List” to Tillie’s attention, requesting that
Philip Loeb, whose name is on the list, be removed from the show, but backing
down as Tillie responds: “no one tells Gertrude Berg to fire anyone.” While Addington takes her no as a temporary
answer, he warns Tillie worse is to come.
As Frank Stanton, the President of CBS, Wahl expresses
empathy yet the firmness which earned Stanton’s reputation at CBS as being a
“son of a bitch.” It is an affecting
scene, Stanton and Tillie, Stanton demanding that Tillie fire Philip Loeb, and
Tillie refusing, yet again. Wahl walks
that fine line evoking some audience sympathy for the character trying to cajole
Tillie (“We’re survivors in this business.”).
The stalemate ends in the cancellation of the show.
Wahl plays still another “one of those men in suits”. a
young ad executive, who Molly hopes will help find a sponsor for her reconstituted
show which has been off the air for a year (now without Philip as her husband and
set in the suburbs of all places). Wahl’s
ad man recounts the facts: “It’s 1955.
Nobody has ethnicity anymore…Celebrate the Unity….People want to see ordinary
Americans…Molly Goldberg had a good run. Let her rest in peace.” And while sensitively delivered by Wahl,
Tillie now stands alone finally mouthing the plaintive line, so achingly
delivered by Dimon, “Molly, Goodbye Molly.”
There are many seamless scene transitions in this memory
play and this is where the excellence of Director Bill Hayes and his technical
crew shine. Where actors need to be with
split second timing is a key to the play’s success and this work is generally
invisible to the audience, without curtains being drawn. It leads to lively pacing, and Hayes knows
when actors should slow their pace, or even pause, to let the play’s funny
moments land securely.
Lighting is critical in this play, such as,
the subtle flickering of lights when a TV showing The Milton Berle or I Love
Lucy shows is on the restaurant or bar, or the sudden burst of full
lighting when cutting to the studio scenes. Or most effectively (and affecting) the lighting
during the Hearings, Philip Loeb in a solitary spot, alone on stage except for
Tillie watching from her memory in the shadows, and then during the news report
of Philip Loeb’s suicide, the lights slowing coming up in muted yellow bathing
the audience itself, as if we’re part of the same story today. PBD newcomer Christina Watanabe’s lighting
design is remarkable.
Sound design is usually important for mood and
background, but takes on another level of importance in this show. It of course has the requisite musical
interludes, especially different takes on the music that was associated with The Goldbergs, Toselli’s gentle waltz, “Italian
Serenade.” Sound designer David Thomas also had the
challenge of delivering lines from the play, electronically enhanced echoed
questions being thrown to Philip Loeb during the Hearings, and the cacophony of
news headlines crying out about McCarthy’s accusations, teletype clacking in the
background, and haunting sounds in Tillie’s mind.
PBD resident costume designer, Brian O’Keefe, cleverly decided
to go with red, white and blue palettes against the barren stage, in particular
Tillie’s red dress with a wide satin collar and pearls, a jacket to delineate important
meetings. Of course, TV Molly became easily
identifiable with her added white apron as a “typical” housewife of her time. Fannie was normally dressed in dark blue
while the men wore subdued grays, all outfits mid fifties perfect.
This is an important play, constantly underscoring themes
that are so significant and germane to our current, often stressful, times. Joseph McDonough’s Ordinary Americans joins the canon of classic plays honorably based
on aspects of our own dark American history, ones that remind us to heed our
past.
