STAGE REVIEW : Flawed ‘Hot l’ Checks In to Fullerton

The once-stately Hotel Baltimore has drifted into tawdry decline. The fancy guests have given way to losers and oddballs, the Art Deco veneer needs a decade of polishing.

Even an “E” on the marquee has burned out--and it’s not the only thing. Just about everybody in the place, from the tightly wrapped hookers to the resigned old-timers, is a little burned out in Lanford Wilson’s “The Hot l Baltimore,” at Cal State Fullerton’s Little Theatre through Sunday.

Like the hotel they’ve made their home, these people need a revamping, a make-over from the ground up. They also need our sympathy, which director Michael J. Kane and his cast are only able to evoke in spurts.

Wilson gazes at the hotel and its occupants with a fey, romantic eye that sees something heroic in the act of just getting by, of holding on for so long. Nobility can be found in the most unexpected places and in the most peculiar people, and Wilson finds a little here.

What “The Hot l Baltimore” comes down to is a passel of character sketches intermingling and colliding. In this respect, it is typical Wilson: The writer often sacrifices clear, resolved exposition to emphasize comically perverse dialogue and bold colors. Wilson expects the audience to figure out what his people are all about. Hints of their past and present have to be enough for us to build on.

If we do connect, there are intriguing characters to listen to and watch. Take, for instance, the wonderfully enigmatic Millie (Brenda Smith), a faded Southern flower who may have a touch of the mystic, or may just be putting everybody on. Smith’s portrayal has understated impact.

And then there are Jackie (Kathleen S. Dunn), the forever agitated street kid, and her little brother Jamie (Ron McPherson). The Utah farmland they bought to get out of the city has disappointment written all over it. Dunn gives the role a manic desperation that brings us close to the character.

‘THE HOT L BALTIMORE’

A Cal State Fullerton production of Lanford Wilson’s play. Directed by Michael J. Kane. With Lawrence R. Wenner, Deborah Thompson, Brenda Smith, Sharon Widner, Edward Mitchell, Allen Zeltzer, Kathleen S. Dunn, Ron McPherson, George Anthony Herrera, Laurie Anne Messerly, Herbert Jensen, Josh Lyman, Ruberia Nigeria, Jaimes Palacio and Howard Johnston. Set by Charles L. Messerly. Costumes by Juan Lopez. Lighting by Tony Maggi. Plays Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m. in the campus’s Little Theatre, 800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton. Tickets: $4-$6. (714) 773-3371.