STAGE REVIEW : ‘Rappaport’ Opens Door on Aging--but Not Too Wide

Boy, those two codgers in Herb Gardner’s “I’m Not Rappaport” are really something.

Midge (the black one) is about as funky as an 81-year-old can be--not get-down, street funky but talky, crazy funky. You know, like old funky. Like old and black funky.

Nat (the white one) has the stuff, too. But being Caucasian, he’s a little more restrained. His funky doesn’t get his body and mouth going. It’s a brain funky, a let’s-work-the-angles funky. Nat thinks he can outthink anybody and, wouldn’t you know it, he just about can.

If these guys sound like caricatures, it’s because they are. Gardner’s play, now at the Moulton Theatre, has been criticized for its superficiality, its allegiance to the sitcom point of view that only asks for so much from an audience, politely declining to go too far past the mere-entertainment barrier.

The knock is justified. “I’m Not Rappaport” can be a pretty frustrating experience, especially when Gardner starts to open the door on several issues related to getting old and isolated and finding the world an unfriendly place but won’t let that door swing out to let in more light.

Disappointing. But oddly enough, this comedy has its share of enjoyable passages as well, especially if you’re fastidious in curbing expectations. “I’m Not Rappaport” was a hit on Broadway because it’s easy to like these old guys, even if we can’t get as close to them as we should. The characters are stereotypical but Gardner is never nasty about it. Condescending, yes, but with a certain innocence.

Even though they aren’t as fleshed-out or authentic-seeming as they could be, Gardner obviously has affection for them. In fact, Midge’s and Nat’s funkiness is the playwright’s valentine of a message to anyone getting old--face it with spirit and you may get by. Not a bad starting point, at any rate.

It’s tough, though, especially if you’re in New York City, where Nat and Midge live. Midge is the janitor for an apartment that’s on the verge of going co-op. Nat doesn’t live too far away. They gab about the compromised state of their days as they hang out in Central Park (Jacquie Moffett’s set, complete with a stained, graying bridge, is outstanding, probably the best the playhouse has offered in recent seasons).

Nat (Harper Roisman) is a radical from way back. He sees the world as a political beast, a sprinting race between right and wrong and a personal battle to maintain one’s dignity when others would like to take it away. He’s a teller of tall tales and inventor of grand alter egos to colorize his own life. Always with a pleasant twinkle.

Midge (Rif Hutton) complains about all this fibbing, but he actually goes for the stories. He likes to be sucked in. Unlike Nat, Midge doesn’t usually see the big picture; he goes more for the moment.

Jim Ryan’s direction keeps in line with the script’s intent and humorous spirit of pathos from Scene 1 and never varies in his faithfulness, which helps generate consistency in Laguna. Ryan likes things animated, and that’s what he gets from his cast, especially Hutton.

Hutton’s portrayal, however, is one of those noisy ones that tend to expand all over the place in TV sitcoms that come equipped with a laugh track. He stomps his feet, points his finger, cocks his head and really goes about some dedicated scene-stealing, leaving poor Roisman to try to make it with a gentler effect.

Problem is, Hutton’s overreaching style doesn’t often make his Midge a convincing oldster (the youngish Hutton also has to deal with the whammy of Abel Zeballos’ powder-in-the-hair makeup, which just doesn’t do the job here). Hutton’s antics may be his way of trying to compensate for the lack of writing depth in the character, but they don’t add much.

In contrast, as Nat, the blander Roisman (an older actor) is more believable. Roisman appears to tire in the later scenes (this is basically a two-person piece that demands a lot from both performers), but he generally offers an easy, engaging enough portrayal of a character that, like Midge, is just sketched too simplistically by Gardner.

‘I’M NOT RAPPAPORT’

A Laguna Playhouse production of Herb Gardner’s play. Directed by Jim Ryan. With Rif Hutton, Harper Roisman, Donald Clinebell, Cheryl Huggins, David Carr, Myrna Ryan and Bryan Burns. Set by Jacquie Moffett. Lighting by Bill Liotta. Sound by Stephen Shaffer. Costumes by Marthella Randall. Plays Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. through Feb. 12 at the Moulton Theatre, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Tickets: $11-$13. (714) 494-0743 or 494-8021.