Finding ‘Lost in Yonkers’

Neil Simon’s four “memory plays,” from “Brighton Beach Memoirs” to “Lost in Yonkers,” provide insight into America’s prime comic playwright. The one-liners are few, although Simon’s sense of the human comedy is very evident in these semiautobiographical, enhanced-for-theatricality works.

This is particularly true of “Yonkers,” which describes a time before World War II when the Simon figure, 13, and his 16-year-old brother are deposited with their irascible grandmother while Dad is forced to hit the road as a traveling salesman.

Of the four plays, “Lost in Yonkers” has the most delicate balance and contains a number of traps for an unwary director. The grandmother must be nasty and frightening to the boys but has to hold the audience’s sympathy. The boys have to be obnoxious but lovable. And their slightly retarded Aunt Bella can’t ignore the humor in Simon’s writing, or her powerful, dead-serious final scene won’t work.

Director Phyllis B. Gitlin, in her staging at the Long Beach Playhouse, hasn’t fallen into any of the traps. Her sense of balance, along with her unerring feel for the period, shows what a good play “Yonkers” really is. The delicate shifts in tone are impeccably executed, and Simon’s nostalgic, emotionally charged intent is gratifyingly respected.

Today this family would be considered highly dysfunctional, with its wandering father, gangster uncle, two imperfect aunts and the steely icon of a matriarch. But in Simon’s writing and Gitlin’s direction, there is an underlying sense of belonging and security, even love, as the story plays out.

The cast is exemplary. Jo Black-Jacob laces her role as Grandma Kurnitz with starch and fire, but you are aware from the beginning that she believes her attitude is the only way to protect herself and her charges. Deebye Meyers is an outstanding Bella, funny and animated, with a solid emotional core that is captivating.

The boys, Zachary Einstein as the Simon figure, Arty, and Nicolas Taricco as his older brother, Jay, are a joy to watch. They are feisty and funny, and their cheeky brashness is less flippancy than an omen of what the Simon brothers actually became--they almost steal the show.

Larry Freilick is correctly self-effacing as their ineffectual father, and Paul Darrigo wisely holds back to the edge of being the stereotypical late-’30s slick operator; his moxie is just enough to fire the boys’ admiration. Donna Friia, as the aunt with a psychosomatic respiratory tick, is wise enough to use it as a dramatic tool instead of the comic shtick others have opted for.

Michael Allen’s setting looks amazingly like a slightly threadbare Yonkers flat, and the costumes, coordinated by Donna Fritsche, are period perfect, except for the white T-shirts the boys wear under their authentically ‘30s T-shirts. Ed Gatica’s lighting design usually works well, except when he dims everything to a small area to emphasize one of Simon’s or Gitlin’s special moments, as though the audience wasn’t smart enough to get it.

* “Lost in Yonkers,” Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach. Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sunday matinees on June 9 and 23, 2 p.m. Ends June 29. $10. (310) 494-1616. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

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Nicolas Taricco: Jay

Zachary Einstein: Arty

Larry Freilick: Eddie

Deebye Meyers: Bella

Jo Black-Jacob: Grandma Kurnitz

Paul Darrigo: Louie

Donna Friia: Gert

A Long Beach Playhouse production of Neil Simon’s comedy-drama. Directed by Phyllis B. Gitlin. Technical direction: John H. Nokes. Scenic design: Michael Allen. Lighting design: Ed Gatica. Costume coordination: Donna Fritsche. Sound design: Bob Ashby. Stage manager: Barbara Ashby.