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Theater Review - "Other Desert Cities"
Monday, January 27, 2014 at 2:03PM THEATER REVIEW
“Other Desert Cities”
Produced by: The John W. Engeman Theater at Northport
Reviewed by: Jeb Ladouceur
OTHER DESERT CITIES premiered to critical acclaim at Lincoln Center (earning an ‘Outstanding New Off-Broadway Award’) three years ago—in January, 2011. After its successful limited engagement at The Center’s Mitzi Newhouse Theater, Joe Mantello teamed up with playwright Jon Robin Baitz in directing the drama, and the show made its inevitable Broadway debut at the Booth Theater before year-end.
A number of New York critics (who had seen the play at both locations) were quick to point to the theatrical maturity Other Desert Cities had achieved subsequent to its already notable Lincoln Center production—The Times’ Ben Brantley used terms like “…stronger …sincere …credible.” The American Theater Wing members agreed … and they gave the play five Tony nominations, including ‘Best Play’ (Judith Light won for ‘Best Featured Actress’) and ‘…Desert Cities’ even came within an eyelash of grabbing the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
As if to stress its versatility, Northport’s snazzy John W. Engeman Theater has chosen to mount this work immediately following their lavish production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (winner of Long Island’s ENCORE Award for Best 2013 Play).
It’s difficult to imagine a play that’s a farther cry from the Berlin lighthearted romp than is Other Desert Cities, which opened last Saturday and will run through March 9th. Granted this drama, too, involves finding a place to celebrate Christmas … California now, as opposed to New England … and sure, ‘…Desert Cities’ has its comedic moments … but that’s where the similarities end. In the new Engeman offering (directed with marvelous pace by Richard T. Dolce) it’s the gripping storyline that impresses.
And what an edge-of-your-seat plot Jon Baitz has given us! It would be surprising indeed, if there’s a middle class family in modern America that hasn’t been touched in one way or another, either by extreme left-right politics … or the alienation of a sibling … or the fear of having an old family secret aired. But all those familiar (often heartbreaking) themes enter into this drama. In Director Dolce’s capable hands, the play attests to the wisdom of author Elizabeth Berg, who famously said, “You are born into your family, and your family is born into you. No returns. No exchanges.”
The five-member cast of this tightly constructed drama comprises the Wyeth Family, Trip, Lyman, Polly, and Brooke—and ultra-liberal Aunt Silda. In such a production (as in plays like The Glass Menagerie for example) everyone must pull their own weight if we are to expect a well-rounded theater experience, and thanks largely to the insight of Casting Director Stephen DeAngelis, that’s exactly what ‘…Desert Cities’ delivers … as the standing ovation after the explosive final scene attests.
While this play revolves around Nancy Lemenager, who early on drops her bombshell as the prodigal novelist Brooke Wyeth, she by no means overshadows veterans Christopher Bolan (Trip, her worldly-wise brother), Phillip Clark (Lyman, the politician father), Joy Franz (her social climbing mother, Polly), and trouper Joan Porter (eccentric Aunt Silda, who in real life has shared film credits with none other than Ernest Borgnine and Carroll O’Connor). And when this sterling quintet is through twisting your emotions, any problems that might exist in your own family should seem trivial by comparison.
Jonathan Collins outdoes himself with an excellent Scenic creation that is pure Palm Springs, while Driscoll Otto, Laura Frey, and Tricia Barasamian supply wholly satisfying Lighting, Sound, and Costume Design respectively. As always, the exquisite Engeman Theater itself rates special mention. It is a Long Island treasure … whose reputation will be enhanced by this gut-wrenching, dramatic grabber.
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Award-winning Smithtown writer Jeb Ladouceur is the author of eight novels, and his theater reviews appear in several major L. I. publications. In Ladouceur’s next thriller, “Cruel Harvest” due in late summer, an American doctor is forced to perform illegal surgeries for a group of vital organ traffickers in The Balkans.
Reader Comments (1)
Loved the review. As always it is jam packed with information and insight.
I am on vacation in St Lucia ... and following 'Smithtown Matters' online.
Louis Greenblatt, MD