To the editor:
I write to you today in response to Drew Pisarra’s review of “Who
is Wilford Brimley? The Musical” [“Soggy
Oats,” GO Brooklyn, Nov. 20]. It seems that Mr. Pisarra took
the play a bit too literally.
As the person who worked at the ticket counter at the Brick Theatre throughout
the run of the show, I had the experience of viewing the show several
times and never once left the show asking myself why the question posed
in the show’s title had not been answered. In fact, it was bluntly
answered at the end of every show, when the audience is called upon to
ask the question out loud, to which the narrator replied, “Wilford
Brimley is a hero!”
True, that may not have been the answer that Mr. Pisarra was looking for
(he seemed to be looking for a much more literal answer), yet the show,
after all, is billed as a comedy! Sure, the play chronicled Mr. Brimley’s
life with informative truths and untruths, but never once was the play
alluded to as sticking to the truth. Why add every aspect of his career,
when the true aspects of his career mentioned in the play (moving from
Salt Lake City, Utah to Los Angeles to be a blacksmith; his first acting
roles and major starring roles; his turn as the Quaker Oats spokesperson,
and yes, even his stint as Liberty Medical spokesperson) provide plenty
of “rich fodder” for the play!
The press release for the show even described it as “an irreverent
farce that blends both the true and almost certainly untrue trials of
grandfatherly character actor Wilford Brimley.”
“Object of ridicule”? Please! I wholeheartedly disagree with
Mr. Pisarra’s statement that “the trio of performing collaborators
(Jon Bulette, Nils d’Aulaire and Jay Klaitz) have opted to dream
up their own particulars with the hope that seeing a fat old man dance,
grimace and blubber will generate laughs aplenty.” Perhaps Mr. Pisarra
thinks that Mr. Bulette, Mr. d’Aulaire and Mr. Klaitz wrote, produced
and directed this play to poke fun at a “fat old man,” but I
got the sense that the trio holds Mr. Brimley to a much higher esteem!
His redemption song at the end of the show emphasizes the huge heart Mr.
Brimley has. The narrator’s obvious love for Mr. Brimley, the trio’s
dance at the close of the show and even just the fact that they did write,
produce and direct a show entirely about Mr. Brimley indicated a respect
for Mr. Brimley rather than them deciding to write a play about an actor
just to make fun of him!
“Lack of talent”? I’m not sure what Mr. Pisarra views as
talent, but Mr. Klaitz received his Master’s in Fine Arts for acting
from Harvard (another recent reviewer of the show, from nytheatre.com,
wrote that Mr. Klaitz’s performance was “letter-perfect!”)
and has been in plays all over the world! Mr. d’Aulaire is a renowned
musician (who masters a plethora of instruments) on the East Coast and
Mr. Bulette is a comedian who has written for “The Onion” and
performed with the Upright Citizen’s Brigade! I’m sure that
with such credentials (to only name a few of them!) this trio must have
“talent”!
Mr. Pisarra writes, “Even further afield are the impersonations done
by the supporting players. As the aforementioned Guttenberg, d’Aulaire
dons a fright wig then considers his job done. As Malcolm Jamal-Warner,
Bulette does even less: All he’s got is a T-shirt bearing the name
of the former cast member of ‘The Cosby Show.’”
I believe that those costumes were part of the idea! It’s supposed
to be funny that a lanky white man uses the T-shirt and a pair of glasses
to portray Malcolm Jamal-Warner. He even poked fun at himself when, once
the scene with Mr. Jamal-Warner ended and he returned to his role as narrator,
he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, please don’t be fooled by the
glasses. I’m not Malcolm Jamal-Warner!” Mr. Guttenberg’s
fright wig was clearly not supposed to be taken seriously, as well. This
is a comedy!
Mr. Pisarra’s statement that: “Ultimately, you can’t help
but feel that this trio Googled ‘Wilford Brimley’ for inspiration,
then forgot to research him (or anyone else) once the project got underway”
is rubbish. Mr. Bulette, Mr. d’Aulaire and Mr. Klaitz visibly did
their homework, as was abundantly clear throughout their show. It seems
that Mr. Pisarra forgot to do his as a reviewer in taking the show a bit
more seriously than it ought to have been taken.
If Mr. Pisarra has such an abundance of knowledge about Wilford Brimley
from Mr. Brimley’s “ubiquitous, curmudgeonly presence on the
small screen via commercials for Quaker Oats and Liberty Mutual,”
then he should know that Mr. Brimley is actually in a commercial for Liberty
Medical, not Liberty Mutual.
— Bekka Payack, Greenpoint
Editor’s Note:
“Lack of talent” is a phrase taken out of context. In fact,
Drew Pisarra wrote: “Lack of talent and daring isn’t the problem
here.”
