‘Immigrant’ lost in translation

Most of us tend to view our family histories as the stuff of myth. Filtered through time and memory, our forebears expand into larger-than-life archetypes whose everyday lives are fraught with humor, drama and danger.

Sadly, in “The Immigrant,” the 2002 musical now in its Los Angeles premiere at the Colony Theatre, the ancestors of record, although heroically intended, dwindle into sentimentalized stereotypes. Based on Mark Harelik’s autobiographical 1985 play by the same name, with a book by Harelik, music by Steven M. Alper and lyrics by Sarah Knapp, the story concerns the immigration of Harelik’s Russian Jewish grandparents to the tiny town of Hamilton, Texas, early in the last century.

The action opens as the footsore Haskell Gorehlik (Christopher Guilmet), fresh off the boat at Galveston, makes his way to Hamilton, where he pushes his cumbersome fruit cart into the frontyard of Milton Perry (Joe J. Garcia), a banker of a distinctively crusty stripe. Speaking only a few words of English, Haskell is dirty, dispirited and on the point of collapse. Nonetheless, for Haskell, this “Taxas” is a strange but blessed new land, where all is “hot and safe” -- a far cry from the icy pogroms he fled.

Overcoming their initial shock at learning that Haskell is a Jew -- the first of their acquaintance -- Milton and his wife, Ima (Cynthia Marty), take pity on the wanderer and offer him a place to stay. In short order, Haskell sends for his wife, Leah (Monica Louwerens), who gives birth to three sons as Haskell climbs the ladder from itinerant street vendor to prosperous merchant.

The initial immersion of Haskell into rural America is dramatically charged and humorous. Subsequent story segues, including Haskell’s abuse by vicious anti-Semites and Haskell and Milton’s bitter quarrel over American isolationism before World War II, are more sketchy in execution. And why it takes the Gorehliks about 30 years to have their bosom buddies over for their first Sabbath dinner remains anybody’s guess.

There’s an undeniable sweetness to this fish-out-of- water tale, not to mention a considerable amount of historical interest. And certainly, there’s much to recommend the Colony production, including Hope Alexander’s sprightly direction, a workmanlike production design and game performances by a ready cast. Yet all those tasty trappings are a meringue concealing a disappointing slightness.

Harelik’s chronicle, replete with wonderful family photographs projected on screens flanking the stage, is, at its core, a parable of assimilation -- an uplifting testament to the American melting pot, with all its seemingly endless space and possibility. That potential grandiosity is lost in Alper and Knapp’s thoroughly undistinguished score, and Dean Mora’s musical direction leaves us wondering whether the music is simply atonal or whether the actors are off pitch.

Harelik treads, somewhat punily, though the same dusty and titanic footprints made by Horton Foote, who set many of his plays in the fictional backwater of Harrison, Texas, a location obviously similar to Harelik’s milieu. But whereas Foote’s richly humanistic dramas are revelatory of the human condition, “The Immigrant” is too specifically personal to hold universal appeal. Although well intended and frequently diverting, it is not so much a work of theater as a family scrapbooking project, overblown in scale and fuzzy in outline.

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‘The Immigrant’

Where: Colony Theatre, 555 N. 3rd St., Burbank

When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Call for exceptions.

Ends: May 4

Price: $37 to $42

Contact: (818) 558-7000, Ext. 15

Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes