Review: Play It Again, Sam
Playhouse West, 4250 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, (818) 985-3311
by Jeff Nelson
It’s the seventies again at Playhouse West, where a revival of Woody Allen’s “Play It Again, Sam” resurrects that far-off decade with all its neurotic charm. In this play we are treated to characters and situations that we’ve seen before. There’s the neurotic Woody character, of course, and the fidgety, insecure love interest. There’s Woody’s friends, the obsessive couple with marital problems, and enough blind dates, discos, and diminishment to fill a film. But the seventies isn’t the only decade that gets played again. Drifting in and out of this neurotic fantasy are scenes from the Bogart canon, that well-worn paragon of film noir and American manhood, Humphrey Bogart. This is a play about sexual insecurity and hard-boiled masculinity, about neurosis and machismo. Who better to illustrate these contrasts than Woody and Humphrey? In this passion play, it’s a Jewish martyr of a different sort who battles the hardened ideal of Bogart.
The problem with reviving “Play It Again, Sam” is that we know these characters intimately. It is impossible to not imagine the real Woody, the real Mia, and the real Bogart when we watch this show. Unfortunately, this production does not possess the talent to equal its source, and the result is a cast unsure of itself, wavering between a half-hearted imitation of the original and an unfocused attempt to be “different,” whatever that means. Brennan Howard, as Allen, looks nothing like Woody Allen, but his portrayal is all neurosis and social awkwardness. Kristen Minter, as Nancy, is an uncanny facsimile of Mia Farrow, and her high-pitched voice and halting speech are so close to Mia’s that it’s eerie. And Michael Copellos proves that he has the stuff to bring Bogart back; his conviction and bearing are his most notable traits.
But if Bogart’s confused, it’s because he doesn’t belong in this production. Director Robert Carnegie fails to explore the “dark” side of film noir. The 1970s and ’80s were peak periods where sexual roles were in tumult, and where there was a preoccupation with the function of psychology in everyday life. The old gave us Bogart: a highly stylized and rigid abstraction of the American male. The ’70s produced the modern, neurotic, self-analyzing intellectual. There are ideas here—the tension between the old and the new—and that’s why this Bogart seems so out of place amid the imaginatively colored costumes and attractive cast.
There is definitely talent and potential here, however, and when this play gets good there are some very funny moments. Capping it all is the hilarious comic performance by Holly Gagnier, who plays Allen’s love interest. She’s funny and she’s the highlight of the show.
There is a lot of promise in this little theatre, and it will be interesting to see how this ensemble does with original work that they believe in. By all rights, visit Playhouse West. It could be the start of a beautiful friendship. ♦