STAGE REVIEW : ‘Aspirin & Elephants’ Cruises Into Rough Patches : Despite an uneven crew, there are plenty of laughs in the Long Beach Playhouse comedy set shipboard.
LONG BEACH — Jerry Mayer’s two semi-autobiographical comedies, “Almost Perfect†and “Aspirin & Elephants,†both present the male as the villain in marital discord. In the latter, now being staged at the Long Beach Playhouse’s Studio Theatre, Arnie has moved from St. Louis and is struggling as a writer in Hollywood. Wife Liz, meanwhile, is firmly establishing her own show business career and, incidentally, bringing home the bacon.
As the play opens, Arnie and Liz are joining her parents, Junior and Honey, along with Liz’s sister Stephanie and her clothing industry husband, Scott, for an anniversary celebration aboard a Norwegian cruise ship. It’s also a bit of R&R; for Junior, who’s recovering from a heart attack.
*
As Arnie, the playwright’s alter ego, Richard Meese takes a gentle approach that is right on the button. Junior, a middle-aged kid with a need for attention and a dread of emotional problems, is played with charm and gusto by Bob Kokol. And Gita Isak is witty and intelligent as Arnie’s understanding Liz. All three performers are on Mayer’s wavelength and know where to find the laughter and gentle pathos in the script.
Bill Vetro is disappointingly shallow as Scott, an aging jock who tramples business associates, wears his wife like a gold medal and has forgotten that life is not just another game to be won. As spendthrift Stephanie, Beth Kellerman also sticks pretty close to the surface and is such a lint-headed appendage that her second act leap into independence rings far from true.
Sheila Oaks makes valiant, admirable attempts to keep Honey lovable but nevertheless leaves the unsettling impression that Honey is a controller, which gives an odd flavor to the character and to her relationship with Junior.
*
The production is tasteful and often humorous, but some of the imbalances among the cast and the action, and the generally sluggish tempos, might have been corrected by director Ken Rugg. We get little of the crispness that comedy requires except when Kokol is on stage and in the bright scenes between Isak and Meese.
Most of the laughs are there, but they’re not as big as they could be, and some are missed completely. One lasting chuckle for the dialect-conscious: The loudspeaker announcements by the Norwegian ship’s captain in a Hungarian accent, and his mangled pronunciation of the few Norwegian words he is asked to speak.
* “Aspirin & Elephants,†Studio Theatre, Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m., matinees, July 11 & 18, 2 p.m. Ends July 24. $10. (310) 494-1616. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Sheila Oaks: Honey Frank
Bob Kokol: Junior Frank
Beth Kellerman: Stephanie Gale
Bill Vetro: Scott Gale
Gita Isak: Liz Nathan
Richard Meese: Arnie Nathan
A Long Beach Playhouse production of the comedy by Jerry Mayer, directed by Ken Rugg. Set and lighting design: Steven Jay Warner. Stage manager: Clyde Bolton.
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