by dick kerekes dickkerekes@yahoo.com
* this article is exclusive to eujacksonville.com
St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre opened its spring show of its sixteenth season last weekend, presenting Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues in the Joukowsky Family Foundation Center for the Performing Arts at 11 Old Mission Avenue in downtown St. Augustine. This play will run through May 11 Thursdays through Sundays 7:30pm with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00pm. Call 825-1164 for reservations and information.
Biloxi Blues was the second installment of a series of plays about Simon’s alter ego, Eugene Jerome. It won a Tony for best play in l985 and three years later was made into a popular movie.
Our hero, Eugene Jerome has been drafted in the the Army and sent to basic training in Biloxi Mississippi where he encounters a troubled drill sergeant from hell (well acted by James Bennett), rancorous fellow recruits, a cunning prostitute, and his first female love,.
A l985 play may seem dated, especially since it is set in l943, during WW II, but I found it very relevant to 2008. The young men in this play were preparing to go to a war, just as today young men (and now women as well) prepare to once again go to a war in a foreign country and face the prospect of not coming back alive. This though is a Neil Simon comedy, but there are several serious issues confronted which you would not expect for a man known for his one line jokes.
I immediately noticed the difference between basic training today and l943. In WWII, there was racial segregation, not an Afro-American to be seen anywhere. You will notice some aggressive behavior between the recruits (like turning one upside down and plunging his head into a toilet). They did things then that would be court martial material today. Drill sergeants could dole out unusual and cruel punishment to recruits and get away with it but not so any more. We live in a litigious society now and there are too many news networks looking at everything closely with an eye for a sensational story.
Limelight could not have selected anyone better to direct a play about the Army than Rich Curran-Kelly who went West Point in the l980s, and even directed plays there. He luckily now lives in St. Augustine and was able to impart his military knowledge to make this play realistic. He has cast this show well.
Simon has written some interesting characters as Eugene’s army buddies. Jacksonville theatre goers will recognize Kevin Jaeger who plays the big Polish bully Wykowski. Jaeger appeared in TJ’s Guys and Dolls and Players by the Sea’s Cabaret.
Flagler College graduate, Gabriel Jacobs-Kierstein is Don Carney, the very indecisive recruit who has one of the best lines in the show when he says, ”You make a mistake in marriage, and you got 50 years of misery!!” St. Augustine native Andrew Reynolds has been active doing improv comedy at The Comedy Club in Jacksonville and uses the acquired skills effectively as recruit Roy Selridge. Ezra Loy as recruit James Hennesey is the quiet type but has a significant role in this play. As the first love of Eugene’s young life, Samantha Perez is the very believable sweet Southern Daisy Hannigan. Meaghan Louise Towne is Rowena, the lady of the night who makes Eugene’s fantasies come true in one of the funniest scenes in the show. Ms. Towne is already a veteran of two Simon plays, Rumors and Laughter on the 23rd Floor. Another Flagler student, Arnold Hill is excellent as Arnold Epstein, the intellectual recruit, who hates military bureaucracy but winds up in a surprising leadership role, that I will leave for your to discover.
I remember Matt Shuman who plays the leading role of Eugene, when he was a student at Jacksonville University. I can’t recall who he played in Three Penny Opera but played Fabian in Twelfth Nigh” and Dodge the drunken old man in Buried Child. Shuman is excellent in this demanding role and he uses his wonderful facial gestures and good comic timing very effectively.
Emily Gilardi’s costumes are perfect, they could pass inspection anytime. Scenic designer Scott Ashley’s barracks are so real, gads!!! I thought I had been drafted again. Margaret Kahler is the light and sound operator, and I loved the Mississippi swamp sounds and the very evocative mood lighting. Stage Manager Annastacia Miller kept the show fast paced with quick scene changes. I know that fabulous set would not have been entirely possible without the volunteer efforts of the Limelight Fabulous Guild who are the backbone of Limelight’s success.
I noticed a large number of retired military in the audience the night I attended and the newly completed lobby features photos of many of the theatre members who served in our armed forces so if you are a veteran or married to one, this show is a must see. You will notice several signs around the lobby and box office stating that there is bawdy, naughty barracks language in this show and lots of it. I might add that there are sexual situations as well, but heck what what you expect from a bunch of young single guys with raging hormones.??
Don’t miss Biloxi Blues, if you light to laugh!!!!
Article Published in the April 2008 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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