The Berkshire Eagle from Pittsfield, Massachusetts • 17

The RgrMliire Eagle JEntertainment Saturday, August 15, 1992 Bll Griffin's 'Boys' arrive at OTC i tional instincts are just as im-, pressive. She is a joy to watch. The production is not helped by the confines of the Southern Vermont College stage. In his set design, Carl Sprague, given the physical circumstances, has made some sound choices in terms of locating and integrating areas mat are used for scenes that take place outside the apartment But those areas are not isolated enough, especially by the As it stands, Peterson's production is an earnest run through an enormously appealing and winning play but it is also a hit-and-miss affair that only occasionally touches base with the play's rich, and delicate emotional Sharon HamngtonOldcastle Theatre Company Sheila (Bonnie Bishoff, left) asks an agitated Norman Bulansky (Willy Jones) for his keys while a mutual friend (Linda White) eats popcorn in this scene from the Oldcastle Theatre Company production of Tom Griffin's 'The Boys Next Suspense drama premieres Harry Coimick coming to SPAC SARATOGA, N.Y. The Sar-.

atoga Performing Arts Center will feature jazz vocalist Harry Con-, nick Jr. and his orchestra Aug. 23-at 8:15 p.m. Although tickets are sold out in the amphitheatre, they are still available for the lawn. For more information, contact SPAC.

Theater Review THE BOYS NEXT DOOR. A play in two acts by Tom Griffin. Directed by Eric Peterson; set and design by Carl Sprague; costume design by Meg Storey. Through Aug. 30.

Aug. 30 at 7. Aug. 22 at 3. Oldcastle Theatre Company, Southern Vermont College, Monument Avenue Extension, Bennington, Vt.

Running time: 2 hrs. 15 mins. Arnold Wiggins Jerry Perna Lucien P. Smith Leonard Stephenson Jack Michael Campbell Norman Bulansky Willy Jones Barry Klemper Richard Howe Mr. HedgesMr.

CorbinSenator Clarke Gregory Finkell Mrs. FremusMrs. WarrenClara Linda White Sheila Bonnie Bishoff Mr. Klemper Bill Reynolds from Bill Reynolds, who grumbles his way through the role with little conveyance of what is at stake here. Stephenson is acceptable as Lucien but his is something of a one-note interpretation.

As Arnold, Jerry Perna begins slowly and deliberately, adopting a rhythmic pattern that slows things down right at the outset. He picks up steam as the evening progresses but his final scene in a railroad station with Jack is perfunctory and without poignancy. In the troublesome role of Jack, Michael Campbell seems lost and out of place, not as a character but as an actor. There is a distance between himself and Jack that throws the production out of balance. Campbell simply isn't, credible.

There is not enough of an investment in this portrayal to make us care terribly much about Jack's difficulties. The play's most effective moments belong to Willy Jones as Norman and especially Bonnie Bishoff as his girlfriend Sheila. Jones, a skilled actor who has a tendency to go over the top, keeps things well in check this time around and the results are extremely touching. Bishoff is positively endearing as a woman who very simply makes her way through this life, finding joy where she can. Her timing is flawless and her emo By Jeffrey Borak Berkshire Eagle Stair BENNINGTON, Vt.

Tom Griffin's "The Boys Next Door" is a genuinely funny, deeply compassionate play about four mentally impaired men who share an apartment under the supervision of a burned-out social worker. The play, which is being given an uneven, sluggish production at Oldcastle Theatre Company, is not simply about four men trying to ease back into the mainstream of life. In a much larger sense, it is about the disabilities, emotional as well as physical, that impair each of us and the strength we find to break through those limitations. It is no accident that, with the exception of Barry Klemper, a member of the foursome who fancies himself as a golf pro, Jack, their social worker, is perhaps the least well adjusted of the whole crew. Norman (Willy Jones) works in a doughnut shop and brings home a steady supply of doughnut remnants that he proceeds to eat as though they were going out of style.

The key ring that is so closely attached to his belt is his lifeline, his identity, his purpose. Arnold (Jerry Perna) is a constant worrier, one of life's victims who sees things as being far more complicated than they are and who is convinced that life in what was, at the time of the play, the Soviet Union, has to be better. Barry (Richard Howe in one of his most subtle and mature performances) lives in a world of steady illusion. Outgoing in an insistent way, he is cut off from any emotional support. He lives in dread of an upcoming visit by his one-armed father.

It becomes chillingly clear once the neglectful father arrives that Barry was an abused child. It has crippled him beyond repair. Lucien (Leonard Stephenson) finds his pride and identity in the green library card he proudly wears at the end of a chain around his neck. "It's got my name," he says with pride. Name, in this setting, is everything.

Under Eric Peterson's direction, the Oldcastle cast makes a sincere run at Griffin's winning play but conies up short, moving sluggishly through a series of missed opportunities that rob Peterson's production of the nuance and notice of moment it needs to tap the play's rich emotional texture. Howe, for example, plays the crucial scene with his father effectively but gets little support RHYTHM By Jeffrey Borak Berkshire Eagle Staff CHESTER Playwright Mitch Giannunzio guarantees his audience will come back after the intermission for his new play, "Last Tag," by killing off one of the play's two characters at the end of the first act It's the only thing he has going for him in a suspense drama that seems like a bad idea gone worse. The play, which is being given its premiere by The miniature Theatre of Chester, is described by its director, Vincent Dowling, who is also the theater's founding director, as "Mitch's morality play in the form of a suspense play." It's that morality that gets in the way of what might have been an ingenious play, at least in the version some of us, advertently or inadvertently, worked out in the audience. "Last Tag" involves a hardworking actress named Meg makes any difference. The writing is simplistic, obvious and awkward, if not downright crude.

It's hard to believe this is the same man who created last season's insightful "A Smaller Place." Elliott's performance is out of control and annoying, like fingernails on a blackboard. There is nothing remotely present in his performance to draw us into the rather shallow character Giannunzio has created. Dowling is on slightly firmer ground, though her character's motivations, as ambiguous as they are meant to be on occasion, are never clearly defined. The play moves along in fits and starts and ends not with any build to a climax but simply because it has nowhere else to go. The rhythms and pacing of Vincent Dowling's production are as poorly defined as the writing and the performances.

Giannunzio's plot twists and reversals are more obligatory and manipulative than logical. There is little wit and even less ingenuity, and whatever moral lesson Giannunzio means to throw at us is as inconsequential as the relationship between his characters. "There's a reason for everything," Meg says at one point to Paul. Everything, that is, but this play. Theater Review LAST TAG.

A suspense drama in two acts by Mitch Giannunzio. Directed by Vincent Dowling; lighting and set design by Eugene Warner; costume design by Elly Van Home. Through Aug. 23. 8.

Sun. 2. The miniature Theatre of Chester, Chester Town Hall, Middlefield Road, Chester. Running time: 1 hr. 30 mins.

Paul Robert Elliott Meg Dowling (Bairbre Dowling) and a man named Paul (Robert Elliott) whom she has met in a bar near her New York apartment. They've known each other three weeks before she finally invites him to her apartment for a drink and some extracurricular activity. Meg is a sexually correct woman. In this day of AIDS anxiety which Giannunzio has her pontificate about at one point Meg comes equipped with a whole carton of condoms, just in case her sexual partner of an evening isn't supplied. But there is more at stake.

A serial killer is on the loose in New York two, in fact. One is a man, dubbed the Window Killer by the media, who has thrown 17 woman out of their apartment windows. The other is a woman who seems to have been out of action for a while. Who kills whom is the action of the first act; how justice is served is the subject of the second act but, as written by Giannunzio and as played by this cast, little of it and BLUES JAMBOREE Sunday, Aug. 16th, 2-7 with SHAKE BAKE THE CHESS KINGS RUBY $7.00 cover Washington Mtn.

Rd. Washington, Only 15 min. from center of Pittsfield 623-5535 uwijiiiiiQiBi WHERE THE STARS SHINE BRIGHTEST! ST0CKBRIDGE CABARET FRIDAY ONE SHOW ONLY DINNER at 7:00 SHOW at 8:30 p.m. SAT. 8:30 11:00 $30 SHOW ONLY DINNER SHOW $40 RINGSIDE AN ADDITIONAL $10 AUG.

14 15 JEFF HARNAR Updated 'Much Ado' offered at The Mount LENOX Shakespeare Company's Stable Theatre is presenting an updated version of "Much Ado About Nothing" as part of the Bare Bard Series at the Mount. This production, set between the World Wars, is running through Sept. 6 on selected dates at noon in the Stables Theatre. Gary Mitchell, who directed this season's "Women of Will" and "The Mission of Jane," is directing. The cast includes Walton Wilson, Corrina May, Jason Asprey, James Daniels, John Hadden, Jonathan Croy, Alison Tatlock, Neil Colvin, Karen Ryker, Christie Slind and Christian Victor.

ITAM LODGE Subscribe! presents The Eagle Mall Office BERKSHIRE MALL 2ND ANNUAL ETHNIC FAIR Sunday, August 16th Noon-11 p.m. Food from: Ireland, Italy, Germany, Greece, Poland, Africa China Irish dancers, country music, pony rides and games. $2.00 cover for country music only 4 fv I STOCKBRIDGE Cabaret entertainer JcfT Harnar has a wonderful way with a song, especially the songs of Broadway. Harnar has a special affection for the Broadway of 195, the vear he was born; a year in which the top price for a musical was $9.20. He spread that affection around the Stockbridgc Cabaret at the Desisto school over the weekend in a performance that brought a little class and a lot of melody to the Berkshires.

Theatergoers have been offered some rich musical material this summer Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Adlcr and Ross, to name a few. But with the noteworthy exceptions of The Theater Barm's "Lies Legends: The Musical Stories of Harry Chapin" and the Williamstown Theatre Festival's "1776," all that rich musical material has been been attacked by voices that are either too weak, too limited in range, too inexperienced or just plain non-existent. SEVEN HILLS INN 100 Plunkett Lenox, Mass. 637-0060 $13.95 SPECIALS Waubeck Rd. RAIN Or SHINE 443-7134y Friday, Saturday, Sunday A Surf Turf (Ribeye Steak Lobster Tail) A Baked Stuffed Breast of Chicken Jj Baked Sole with Crabmeat Stuffing Reservations Required Not valid with any other offer Shakespeare Company PRESENTS THE TAMING OF THE SHREW By William Shakespeare NOW BY MOONLIGHT AND SUNLIGHT OUTDOORS ON THE MAGICAL MAINSTAGE TUESDAYS SUNDAYS AT 8 P.M.

SATURDAY MATINEES AT 2:30 P.M. Not so Saturday night at the DeSisto School. Harnar brought his smooth, confident, expressive voice to bear on a dazzling array of melodies that included not only musicals that opened in New York during 1959, but some hits from past seasons that were still around "My Fair Lady," "Bells Are Ringing," "West Side Story," "The Music Man," "Jamaica," "Flower Drum Song," and "Li'l Abner." The musical newcomers to the New York theater scene that year were "Gypsy," "Fiorello!" "The Sound of Music," Once Upon a Mattress," "Little Mary Sunshine," Michael Flanders and Donald Swann's clever revue "At the Diop of a Hat" and "Billy Barnes Revue," "Take Me Along," "Redhead," "Juno," "Descry Rides Again," "First Impressions," "The Nervous Set," and "Saratoga" not all of them hits by any means but each one with material that is worth hearing either again or for the first time. Harnar's show features 43 songs, in medley and single songs, beginning with a haunting, balladlike rendition of "Tonight," from "West Side Story," and ending with a steady, sure, deliberate interpretation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Climb Every Mountain" that is memorably unlike any rendition of this signature song from "The SoundjJLSlusicLshajt you are ever likely to hear. Harnar is not quite on as certain a footing with the more whimsical songs in his show.

The jauntiness of his version of Flanders and Swann's delicious "Have Some Madeira, M'Dear" glosses over the song's playful lyrics and tone. Flarnar's show business patina also smooths over the subtle cleverness of 'The Country's In the Very Best of Hands" from "Li'l Abner." At the same time, "Songbook" reveals some gems isolated songs that make you wonder why the shows that contain them weren't terribly successful. Harnar is joined in all this by his more-than-able piano accompanist, Alex Rybeck, who is also partners Harnar in several duets. All in all. Harnar's "Songbook" breathed some fresh air into an otherwise moribund summer theater season.

July 1991 Cabaret Review By Jeffrey Borak The Berkshire Eajtle Stall" 5 D) 1 Saturday flight i Surf Turf Special i SPECIAL MATINEE DISCOUNTS: ALL SEATS $18 BERKSHIRE COUNTY RESIDENTS WITH I.D., $13 CHILDREN WITH AN ADULT, SENIOR CITIZENS, 2 FOR THE PRICE OF 1 August 21 22 Wiseguys "Impeccably smooth harmony, perfect pitch blend, their wide grasp of musical style is matched by a sly humor. AVip York Times DINNER THEATRE at the MANSION Tuesdays, Wednesdays Thursdays at 7:00 Exquisite food and excellent entertainment in an elegant turn-of-thc-century mansion Aug. 11 Sept. 3 Around The World On Broadway at the DeSisto Estate AND WORKS BY EDITH WHARTON and HENRY JAMES THE MODERN PLAY SERIES THE BARE BARD SERIES SHAKESPEARE IN THE OXFORD COURT 16 PRODUCTIONS IN ALL! 2 INDOOR THEATRES plus 2 OUTDOOR STAGES UNDER THE SUN AND THE MATINEE AND EVENING PERFORMANCES DAILY Here's an ail-American favorite at a fantastic price. Every Saturday we're serving up a generous portion of tender filet mignon with three succulent, grilled jumbo shrimp.

You also get all you can eat from our new salad bar. Route 183 Stockbridgc, Mass. (2 minutes past Tanglcwood Main Gate) For reservations and information, Call (413) 298-4032 Proceeds to Benefit DeSisto School Pcrformint Arts FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL THE BOX OFFICE AT (413) 637-3353 or (413) 733-2500 The Berkshire Hilton Berkshire Common Pitlsfield, MA 4134992000 FREE PARKING.