A Night on the Town in ‘Romanoff’s’

A bygone era is remembered in “Romanoff’s” (newly opened at the Pacific Theatre Ensemble), by Rob Morris and Randy Oglesby.

“The story takes place in Romanoff’s nightclub--the one that used to be on Sunset in Hollywood,” Morris explained. “The inspiration came from David Niven’s book ‘The Moon’s a Balloon,’ in which he talked about what a great character Mike Romanoff was. Our story takes place on Dec. 10, 1938, the night David Selznick met (his future “Gone With the Wind” star) Vivien Leigh.” Beyond those luminaries in attendance, plenty of celebrity names get dropped: Howard Hughes, Ginger Rogers, Charlie Chaplin, Barbara Stanwyck, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard.

Also along for the ride are some made-up and composite characters: Herschel and Evelyn from Iowa (not so coincidentally, Morris has an aunt and uncle in Iowa named Herschel and Evelyn), gossip columnist Louedda Quibble, Slappy Happy Henderson (“a Three Stooges type”), Ophelia Booth Collier (“a former Shakespearean tragedian reduced to giving elocution lessons to actresses”) and a Chicago gangster named Rocko De Lug.

As in past PCE productions (“June Second,” “Slaughterhouse on Tanner’s Close”), the cast essays multiple parts; here 15 actors play 35 roles. And be prepared for a bird’s-eye view of the goings-on: The theater has been transformed into a nightclub, with a greeting at the door by Prince Romanoff, a band playing songs of the time and audiences seated at cocktail tables. “We’re approaching it as a period piece,” Morris said, “with as much respect and style as you’d give something from the Shakespearean or Restoration periods.”

“There are no musical daydream soliloquies,” said playwright/composer Richard Hobson, whose dark comedy “Overland Rooms” (1982) recently opened at Theatre Exchange. “I call it a play with music--not a musical, because the convention is different.”

The story is set in a town in the Northwest, about 25 years after World War II. “But the period called to mind is not the ‘60s when it happens, but the ‘40s, when the fantasy takes place. The main character is a crazy boy who doesn’t say much. We find out what he’s thinking, and what others are saying to him, through the singers. The boy lives in a whorehouse with his mother, who resents the fact that the father has gone off to the war. So she creates a (dual) fantasy that he’s this idealized hero--and a traitor who abandoned them.”

Hobson (who has also created music for stage productions of “Of Mice and Men,” “Brecht on Brecht” and “As You Like It”) spent time in the Northwest during the ‘60s, which, he says, accounts for the setting. “Also, I wanted to use a lot of split imagery, dialogue often coming from two rooms at the same time--and the singing is the third source. (A country band accompanies the action.) It was appealing to use all those different elements. But don’t expect ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.’ This couldn’t be more different.”

LATE CUES: On Friday, May 13, folk singer Pete Seeger and writer Ring Lardner Jr. headline “Carry It On,” a musical/theatrical celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, at the Wilshire Ebell. For further information: (213) 759-6063.

CRITICAL CROSSFIRE: The final installment of Neil Simon’s autobiographical trilogy, “Broadway Bound,” opened recently at the Ahmanson. Gene Saks directs.

In the Times, Sylvie Drake praised “a comedy filled with one-liners solidly based on character rather than mere invention,” yet noted that this interpretation is “sometimes sharply bitter and entirely too low-key.”

From the Herald-Examiner’s Richard Stayton: “This bittersweet remembrance of tentative first steps as a professional writer breaks through Simon’s formula boundaries. When you expect a punch line, he delivers a profundity. Just as you get out a handkerchief, tears of laughter erupt.”

Said Tom Jacobs in the Daily News: “Fortunately, the good parts--and this includes almost all of the extraordinary second act--are so full of wisdom, warmth and insight that they override other considerations. When it’s at its best, ‘Broadway Bound’ is magnificent; when it’s not, it’s forgivable.”

Noted Duane Byrge in the Hollywood Reporter: “Simon has cut and culled more funny lines from various drafts than most TV networks possess in a decade. The master craftsman, he makes it look easy. Director Saks’ logistical talents, as well as his keen character sensitivities, are perfectly blended.”

In the Orange County Register, Thomas O’Connor found in “an otherwise unremarkable production . . . the remarkable Carole Shelley, who makes the bitterly repressed mother a creature several times more complex and haunting than the material.”

Last, from Kathleen O’Steen in Daily Variety: “The fact that this production’s strength comes from an ensemble effort rather than a starrer for the mother (only heightens) Simon’s most charming work.”