By Kevin Hylton
March 25, 2003
Kevin Hylton looks at actor Daniel Stern's first play, BARBRA'S WEDDING, a play about an unemployed actor left off of the invite list for Streisand's wedding.
Why Wasn’t Daniel Invited?
It’s been a tough month for New York Theater. I feel that I would be remiss if I didn’t address the reason why this article is a week late. And yet, in light of the present situation in the world, it seems trivial to speak about musicians’ contracts, producers’ desires to limit or in some cases totally remove live musicians from the musical equation on Broadway (in an effort to lower their bottom line without lowering ticket prices), and the surprising refusal of actors to cross the picket lines leading to the eventual end of the musicians’ strike. So, with that one exhaustingly long sentence, any reader can feel pretty well informed on the issues involved in the now-defunct strike. And despite everything else going on in the world, the lights on Broadway are back up.
Just in the nick of time, two entertainment events have begun that will enable us all to take a break from the madness in the world. The first event is March Madness and though I am tempted to spend the next six hundred words expressing my sadness over the abrupt demise of my bracket, I will restrain myself and rather tell you about a new comedy that recently opened off- Broadway.
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They say you should write what you know. In the case of Daniel Stern that meant that when he was unable to concentrate in his Malibu home one day because of helicopters flying overhead, it was time to start writing a play. After his wife informed him that the choppers were heading down the road to Barbra Streisand’s wedding, Stern realized how funny the situation was and his play, BARBARA’S WEDDING, was born. This is the first produced play by writer and actor Daniel Stern. Many readers know Daniel as the voice of the narrator in the 1990s television show THE WONDER YEARS. Others know Stern from the niche he carved out for himself in the HOME ALONE trilogy and CITY SLICKERS films. Perhaps his best work was done earliest in his career with Levinson’s, DINER. Regardless, Stern’s new play makes up for the dogs he’s been involved with over the last few years. The play first premiered at the Philadelphia Theatre Company and now has transferred to the Westside Theatre/Downstairs. For the last few years the Westside/Downstairs was the home of Eve Ensler’s, VAGINA MONOLOGUES. Ensler’s play employed a very simple set with three women sitting on stools recounting humorous and horrific stories for almost two hours about various women’s vaginas.
The set for Stern’s piece could not be more different. Neil Patel, who recently designed the chic New York apartment set for Neil LaBute’s MERCY SEAT, created a warm, older Malibu home with details that make the small theater feel like you are sitting with the actors in their own living room. Patel’s set is the home of JERRY and MOLLY Schiff, a married couple who live in the shack on the block of Malibu Mansions. You know Jerry. He’s the guy who played for a few successful seasons in that 1980s family television show. What’s the name of that show again? Readers will recognize the actor playing Jerry (John Pankow) from his work on MAD ABOUT YOU where he filled the role of Ira. Pankow acted last summer in the Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park production of TWELFTH NIGHT. Julie White plays Schiff’s wife, Molly. White starred in the original production of Donald Margulies’ play DINNER WITH FRIENDS and did a season on SIX FEET UNDER and several seasons on GRACE UNDER FIRE. So Jerry is an out of work actor and Molly works in a library and they live across the street from Yentl.
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The acting throughout this piece is very real. It is hard to imagine anyone else but Pankow playing the role of the highly neurotic and pathetic character. In an interview with the writer, Daniels commented that Anthony LaPaglia was very interested in the role, and he even read for the writer, but Daniels did not feel he was right for the part. Who knows what LaPaglia could have done with Jerry? Regardless, Pankow beautifully plays Schiff. The actor is somehow able to make even a skeptic, like myself, feel sympathetic for a once-famous actor whose life has been conquered by his fears. Watching the play I really believed that JERRY and MOLLY were married. Julie White is dead on in her portrayal of Jerry’s stressed and slightly crazy wife. David Warren, the director of the play, nicely blocked the show and successfully aided the actors in breathing life into Stern’s characters.
Overall the show succeeds. Watching it felt, at times, like watching a “good” sitcom. The words “good sitcom” may sound like an oxymoron but, in all honesty, the play is very funny. Daniels is writing from what seems to be personal experience although I do not suspect that his financial and professional situation were ever as dire as the character in his play. Nonetheless, the writer’s characters are intriguing. It’s hard for a layperson to feel any sympathy for someone who acted in Hollywood for a living and lives on the same block as “A list” stars. And yet somehow Stern succeeds in humanizing Jerry. By the end of his play the audience is routing for him and hoping that he will overcome his neurotic side and conquer his fears. Stern is able to accomplish these tasks by appealing to emotions that are common amongst all people. For this reason, a play that could turn normal theatergoers off draws them in by looking at humanity more than Hollywood.
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With this said, there are problems with the play. At times the comedy passes into mediocre or bad sitcom levels with jokes that undermine the majority of the witty comic value of the piece. As well, the ending of the play seems forced and undeserved. Yet, despite its flaws the play serves a purpose. There is value in escape. Perhaps comedy is most valuable when running away forces you to slow down and think.
Tickets to the show can be obtained for $60.00 through Telecharge, at (212) 239-6200.
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