O.C. STAGE REVIEW : Cast Has Right Spirit Here on Gillian’s Island

A press release announcing Laguna Playhouse’s production of “To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday” quickly made the connection between Michael Brady’s squishy play and “Ghost,” that teary movie melodrama that was such a hit in 1990.

They do share a few things, at least on the surface: both have grieving spouses, both have the spirits of dead mates who show up to console and counsel, both have moody settings, and both are heart squeezers, the kind of entertainment that relies more on big emotions than art.

Both have also been very popular. “Ghost” is still one of the top video rentals, and “To Gillian” has been produced frequently (mostly on small stages) since it successfully premiered at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York in 1984.

Orange County has certainly offered Brady’s play a loving embrace--”To Gillian” has materialized in recent weeks at the new Vanguard Theatre Ensemble in Fullerton as well as in Laguna Beach.

The Laguna Playhouse version that opened Thursday at the Moulton Theatre isn’t terrible; in fact, director Joan McGillis handles “To Gillian” probably pretty much the way Brady intended. It has all the feeling any hard-working cast can muster. But most of McGillis’ actors are so eager for us to experience all the love and pain and worry and anxiety and triumph that they tend to overreach, leaving Brady’s characters almost as unreal as the ghostly Gillian.

The story of soul-sick David, still lamenting two years after the freakish accidental death of wife Gillian, is a peculiar hybrid of yuppie-era glibness (some of Brady’s dialogue, although meant to be witty, is coy to the degree of distraction) and personal reawakening. When least affecting, it’s like a New Age visual aid for how to survive the loss of a loved one.

Sequestered on an island away from the demands of civilization, David is kind of a pain--a self-absorbed, sometimes nice, sometimes cranky type of person who maybe should be left on his own to figure things out. But a small group of friends--buttinskies, really--descend on him to prod him out of his funk as well as to help rekindle a relationship he had with a woman before Gillian.

Gillian, a beautiful and exuberant ghost with a conscience, is all for David getting on with his life--and with this other woman; Gillian, who has a nagging streak, asks David about his sex life during one of their odd beachfront communions, egging him to jump back in the saddle. He’s not so sure, but over the course of the weekend he begins to thaw.

Andrew Barnicle, the playhouse’s artistic director and a veteran actor on both coasts, is making his local debut as David, and he fares the best here. Barnicle allows us to sense David’s intelligence and vulnerability, which is significant; without that, there’s a tendency to find this remote man unlikable.

Stephanie Burden as his daughter, Rachel, is also just fine, although it’s hard to imagine any 16-year-old being so mature, responsible and selfless. This paragon is contrasted by Cindy, a more spry and hormonal sort who has a crush on David. As Cindy, Terri Mowrey is a bit heavy on the adolescent coquettishness.

The rest of the cast is composed of Debbie Grattan as Esther, Gillian’s all-business sister, Robert M. Costello as Esther’s goofy-gabby husband, Lynn Mastio as the remarkably patient and giving new woman in David’s life, and Vicky Dawson as that plucky apparition, Gillian.

‘To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday’

A Laguna Playhouse production of Michael Brady’s play. Directed by Joan McGillis. With Andrew Barnicle, Stephanie Burden, Terri Mowrey, Lynn Mastio, Robert M. Costello, Debbie Grattan and Vicky Dawson. Set by Jacquie Moffett. Lighting by R. Timothy Osborn. Costumes by Marthella Randall. Sound by David Edwards. Plays Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through April 12 at the Moulton Theatre, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Tickets: $13 to $18. (714) 494-8021 and (714) 497-9244.