Review: BILOXI BLUES at Palm Canyon Theatre

Palm Canyon Theatre starts 26th season with a terrific production!

By: Sep. 03, 2022
Review: BILOXI BLUES at Palm Canyon Theatre
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If Palm Canyon Theatre's first offering of their 26th season is any indication, we are in for one helluva ride! Their production of Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues hits every note: humor, pathos, camaraderie and even a touch of romance. The play is the second entry in Simon's semi-autobiographical trilogy which starts with Brighton Beach Memoirs and finishes with Broadway Bound. The script chronicles Simon's time in boot camp at Biloxi, Mississippi. He is one of six soldiers who learn to live with a drill instructor from hell, a couple of girls from town, and each other. As always, Simon's writing creates dimensional characters and their interactions provide numerous laughs but also some intense concerns.

First-time director Ralph Strangis has managed to cast six first-class, age-appropriate actors - not an easy effort in a valley that skews towards older performers. But despite their youth, several of the young actors are fully seasoned thespians. Fabrizio Ibanez who plays Simon's avatar, Eugene Morris Jerome, is in his 11th season at Palm Canyon Theatre although he is only 16 years old. Eugene always carries a personal notebook with him where he constantly jots down notes about the people and situations he encounters. He also frequently breaks the fourth wall when he addresses the audience directly, explaining or commenting in the current action. Ibanez seemed totally comfortable on opening night with an enormous amount of dialogue, all delivered in a New York Jewish speech pattern. For his chats with the audience, he always moves a few steps downstage and I found that I was really anticipating those moments for their dry wit and Ibanez' wide-eyed telling of the story.

The other primary soldier - and actually the principal protagonist - is Arnold Epstein, very capably performed by Ben Van Dijk. Van Dijk is in his ninth season with PCT and is memorable from Mame, The King and I, A Christmas Story and many others, but here he is virtually unrecognizable. Epstein is iconoclastic and has absolutely no interest in being converted to a killing machine. In addition to his strong personal views, he is afflicted with numerous physical ailments that make boot camp meals and standing on the parade grounds for extended times almost impossible. Van Dijk absolutely embodies this character with a consistent high voice pattern, glasses, a bit of delicacy and character traits such as an inability to ever stand absolutely still while he's supposed to be at attention. The friendship between Eugene and Epstein is one of the fundamental themes of the show and takes on depth from the fact that these young men have worked together for nine years through Kids Camp, numerous mainstage productions, and now as members of David Green's Music Theatre University.

Richard Marlow is more than a match for the six young soldiers under his dominion in his portrayal of Sgt. Merwin J. Toomey. From the moment the men arrive at boot camp, Toomey establishes control by shouting commands at, demeaning, and bullying the men. Marlow is truly one of the Valley's theatrical treasures as both an actor and a director, and his sergeant is fully three-dimensional. From the first moment they meet, Sgt. Toomey and Epstein butt heads, but both are articulate in their battles. At one point Epstein says, "I don't think it's necessary to dehumanize a man to get him to perform," and the sergeant replies, "I'm trying to save these boys' lives. I don't want them human; I want them obedient." Both of them have valid points, and their final encounter is both touching and troubling.

The other four soldiers are Frank Barrera as Carney, Samuel David as Wykowski, Matthew Pichler as Hennesey and Sabastian Reda as Selridge. All four are uniformly excellent in their performances. Through the writing, the directing, and the individual performances, we identify each of the men as unique individuals and thereby understand their encounters with each other.

Rounding out the cast are Erika Aleman as Rowena, a prostitute in town who helps Jerome achieve his goal of losing his virginity, and Katelyn Compton as the charming Daisy Hannigan who wins his heart before he ships out. Both ladies bring much depth to relatively small parts.

The excellence of the pacing and staging is attributable to director Ralph Strangis. Though he as performed at PCT, this is his first foray into directing and he has succeeded in spades. Although I have seen this show before, I have never laughed through it as much as I did on opening night, and the brisk pace kept the audience fully engaged. I hope we see more of his work in the near future.

The production team at PCT has delivered their normal excellence. J. W. Layne's set and lighting are efficient and evocative (though I wish they could beef up their spotlight a bit.) By using the actual brick upstage wall, he has achieved much depth, unified by a well-painted wood floor. Keeping the barracks upstage also allowed for several vignette scenes downstage of the proscenium.

Derik Shopinski didn't get to show his typical skill in costuming since the soldiers all wear khaki uniforms, but the two girls from town are perfect in their dress and hairstyles.

One of the greatest technical creators at PCT is Nick Edwards whose projections create full sets as they are projected on a blank curtain at the proscenium line. He really exceeded himself with a very realistic shooting star when Eugene has his first kiss, and also showing the scenery whizzing by outside the train window when the recruits arrive at and then leave Biloxi.

Although most non-musicals are limited to one weekend, I'm happy that they found two weekends for Biloxi Blues. It is such a delight that I will probably see it again in its second weekend. I'm sure the word of mouth is going to make this a very popular production.

Biloxi Blues runs through Sunday, September 11, 2022. Show times are 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $32 with a special rate of $17 for students. For tickets, sponsorship opportunities, or other information, call the PCT Box Office at (760)323-5123 or order online at www.PalmCanyonTheatre.org. Palm Canyon Theatre is located at 538 North Palm Canyon Drive, at the corner of Alejo Road and Palm Canyon Drive. Box Office hours are currently Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Next up at Palm Canyon Theatre is Titanic - The Musical, running September 30 - October 16. Although not a widely performed musical, PCT has received repeated requests from musical theatre aficionados for years and there is much excitement about the staging of this truly epic work. This musical takes audiences on a journey unlike any other account of this historic voyage, including some very moving music.

Photo by Nick Edwards




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