There are two spirits wandering
around on stage up at Playhouse on Park in West Hartford ,
where “Play it Again, Sam” is currently running. The first is in the script,
and he is none other than Humphrey Bogart (Ted D’Agostino), the iconic tough-guy
Hollywood star of the 30s and 40s, known for his roles in such classic films as
“Casablanca,” “The Maltese Falcon” and
“The African Queen.” The other spirit is that of the play’s author, Woody
Allen, the prolific actor, screenwriter and director who appeared in the play
on Broadway in 1969 and subsequently in the 1972 film. Unlike the Bogey spirit,
the Allen spirit is a bit intrusive, and at least one member of the audience
found he had to keep holding mini-exorcisms to cleanse the spirit from his
mind.
The play, a typical Allen exercise
in self-abnegation and weltschmerz, finds film critic Allan Felix (Zane
Johnson) at loose ends after his wife of two years, Nancy (Bethany Fitzgerald),
leaves him because she wants to “live.” Rushing to hold Felix’s hand as he
ping-pongs between false bravado and abject self-pity are his best friend, Dick
(Dan Matisa) and his wife, Linda (Marnye Young).
Bethany Fitzgerald and Zane Johnson. Photo by Rich Wagner
What follows is the couple’s
attempts to get Felix back on the dating merry-go-round, with Bogey dropping by
occasionally to evaluate Felix’s efforts with the opposite sex and to give some
hard-boiled advice about the best way to handle dames (that often involves some
slapping around and an occasional bullet or two). Felix goes on a series of
ruinous dates with a variety of women (all played with brio by Fitzgerald) who,
for one reason or another, find Felix less than charming (they either laugh
uproariously or run away screaming). Felix’s Virgil on this odyssey into dating
hell is Linda, and the two soon come to have feelings for each other, feelings
that eventually lead to Felix coming to grips with his sexuality, his divorce
and his moral code.
Ted D'Agostino and Zane Johnson. Photo by Rich Wagner
As directed by Russ Treyz, the
staging is heavy on semi-slapstick, with the actors playing their roles for
broad laughs, but the dialogue is pure Woody Allen, and it is difficult not to hear
him…and see him…there on the stage, even going so far as to remember how he
delivered a certain line versus how Johnson delivers it or how he handled a bit of
business versus how Johnson handles it, which is, of course, unfair to Johnson, but
there it is.
For those not Allen-haunted, Johnson’s
performance is, if lacking a certain rueful morbidness, certainly entertaining
and often quite hilarious. He’s ably supported by Matisa and Young and is
bedeviled (and then finally entranced) by the multiple women Fitzgerald
portrays (her best is the art gallery lady who’s planning to commit suicide on
Saturday). D’Agostino does a fair Bogey imitation (although, again, no one can
deliver the lines the way Bogey did). All in all, “Play it Again, Sam” is a
refreshing evening of theater that often tickles the funny-bone. Your
familiarity with the film (or the original Broadway production) may flavor your
experience a bit, but the cast essentially makes the play its own.
“Play it Again, Sam” runs through
March 20. For tickets or more information call 860-523-5900 X 10 or go to
www.playhouseonpark.org
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