Little Footsteps
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Huckabone, Mann, Vonderschmitt, Koch
Photo by Robert Craig Photography
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By Ben Miles
Oscar-winning screenwriter Ted Tally (Silence of the Lambs, 1991) is primarily a playwright. Tally has a penchant for intense theatrical creations. For instance, his Obie-Awarded Terra Nova (1977) is a riveting drama based on the deadly 1911 international competition to claim Antarctica. So, who would guess that Tally would ever apply his formidable scribing skills to domestic comedy? But, in 1986, Tally did just that, with a script titled Little Footsteps.
It's a simple slice-of-life scenario which focuses on a couple, Ben and Joanie, who have been married for nearly a decade. Now in their mid-thirties, the upwardly mobile matrimonial mates--he's in the high-pressure world of New York city television; she's an aspiring artist--are no longer seeing eye-to-eye. That Ben is Jewish and Joanie is Episcopalian is not the major source of friction, however. The issue that threatens their state of relative marital bliss is Joanie's latest news: She's pregnant. This is the set-up for Ben's lame one-liners ("Fetus don't fail us now!") and repressed uneasiness regarding his and Joanie's expanding familial situation. As Ben attempts to joke-it-away, Joanie becomes more uncertain about their future together. By the second act, we see that Ben and Joanie's relationship has deteriorated to the extent that, subsequent to giving birth, Joanie and the infant have fled to the home of her doting and conservative parents, Charlotte and Gil.
The Long Beach Playhouse's Studio Theatre is now, under Gregory Cohen's imperfect direction, staging an updated version of Little Footsteps, and while this post-911 iteration adds a level of immediacy to the proceedings, Cohen's scene-blocking makes many moments invisible to much of the audience-eye. Cohen should do whatever it takes to move the action away from actors frolicking and fighting prostrate onstage, and move it upward within the sightline of theatergoers. As humorous as some of the shenanigans sound, this is a stage play, not a radio performance.
As Ben, Andrew Vonderschmitt is measurably obnoxious. Nevertheless, Vonderschmitt's ample personal charm allows us to tolerate this grating character. The actor's improvised pre-show interaction ought to be minimized or eliminated entirely, however. Not only does such direct and informal addressing obliterate the theater's fourth-wall protocol, it also de-energizes the drama.
Erinn Koch committedly portrays Joanie as an idealist, living with the highest expectations of Ben. But this strains credibility. After so many years with this guy as her husband, reality should have sunk in long ago.
As Joanie's parents, Dianna Mann and Cort Huckabone add finesse and coherence to their respective roles. Huckabone, as Gil, proves to be an unexpectedly apt physical comedian, while Mann conveys Charlotte's uptightness in a most canny manner.
Little Footsteps continues Fridays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. There are occasional Sunday matinees. For reservations, dial (562) 494 - 1014. For further details, visit www.lbph.com. The Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 East Anaheim
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