First let me confess. I love "Over the River and Through
the Woods." I loved the play when I saw it off-Broadway
several years ago. I think Joe Di Pietro’s script is brilliant,
and so I was looking forward to the Gallery Players’ production
that opened Feb. 23.
Despite my high expectations, I was not disappointed by this
latest production, directed by Sue Glausen Smith.
The only problem with the revival is that it has just a three-week
run. That means you only have four more opportunities to see
it.
"Over the River and Through the Woods," is about a
young man, 29-year-old Nick Cristano (Joe DiGennaro) who, as
the title implies, visits his grandparents. Nick is blessed with
two sets of living grandparents, Frank (Charles Fatone) and Aida
(Dolores Kenan) Gianelli, and Nunzio (Hal Smith-Reynolds) and
Emma (Dianne Barranca) Cristano, whom he visits on Sundays in
the Gianellis’ Brooklyn home.
In numerous monologues, Nick makes it abundantly clear that his
grandparents are overindulgent, overbearing and overprotective
overeaters who live in overheated houses. With his parents in
Florida and his sister in San Diego, he is all they have. Which
is what makes his decision to accept a promotion that will take
him to Washington ("the far-away one") especially painful.
In an effort to keep their grandchild in New York City, Emma
invites an eligible young woman, Caitlin O’Hare (a sensible yet
saucy Rachel Feldman), to Sunday dinner. Caitlin is a vegetarian
and a nurse, which the grandparents interpret as a kind of nurse
who takes care of animals. But she is also sweet and interesting
and apparently a good cook. The Cristanos and Gianellis cross
themselves and wait while Nick starts the relationship off on
the wrong foot and then tries to patch things up.
Of course, Nick is not his grandparents’ only worry. Frank keeps
banging up the car but refuses to turn in his car keys. Nunzio
is suffering from a spreading cancer. And the world has left
all of them behind, unable to figure out the difference between
a VCR and a CPU. But for these traditional Italians, no problem
is unbearable if one has the support and love of family – the
stability of which young Nick is currently threatening.
There are some reviewers (and, I suspect, a few in the audience)
who might believe "Over the River" is overly sentimental.
They might also complain that it portrays Italians in a stereotypical
way. These are the same people who didn’t cry when Old Yeller
died and suspect Schindler somehow made money off the Jews in
his care. For the rest of us, the play is a heartwarming story
with just enough irony, humor and good sense to keep it on this
side of maudlin.
Nick’s grandparents may confuse a podiatrist with a psychiatrist
and Gary Cooper with Clark Gable, but they certainly know that
a man needs a woman, a couple needs children and life needs to
be lived. One can’t help but think that Nick (played to callow
perfection by DiGennaro) would be a lot better off if he spent
more time listening to them and less time complaining.
If Di Pietro’s script is a gift, this cast surely knows how to
unwrap it. Fatone, Kenan, Smith-Reynolds and Barranca, walk,
act and talk exactly like many, many older Italians I have known.
Walk down the streets of Brooklyn and, if you’re lucky, you’ll
meet a few of them, too. These grandparents are as believable
as the Sunday dinner they eat.
And that brings us to Smith’s excellent staging, which includes
not only set designer Todd Reemtsma’s loving re-creation of a
Brooklyn home, but also a real dinner that fills the theater
with mouthwatering aromas. Make sure you eat before seeing this
play, or you’ll be drooling into your program.
If you’re still hesitating over whether or not to see "Over
the River," let me add that the play received an unprecedented
and much deserved second curtain call on opening night. The applause
came after an evening filled with laughter and tears. (If you’re
susceptible, bring a box of tissues).
"Over the River" tells a story that we all know or
wish we knew. As Caitlin says to Nick, "How many young adults
get to have dinner with all four grandparents?" Indeed!
If there’s anyone out there who can’t understand the universal
messages delivered by this traditional Italian family living
in Brooklyn – wake up and smell the veal cutlet. "Over the
River" takes us all to a grandfather’s house far more real
than any we have ever seen – the emotional space that lies in
our hearts.
The Gallery Players presents "Over
the River and Through the Woods" through March 10 – Thursday,
Friday and Saturday at 8 pm; Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets are $15,
$12 for children under 12 and seniors. The theater is located
at 199 14th St. at Fourth Avenue in Park Slope. For more information,
call (718) 595-0547.
