2006-07-15-Chaim's Love Song

By Cynthia Citron

NORTH HOLLYWOOD- What do you say to a playwright whom you know to be a wonderfully kind and endearing man after you’ve twitched through nearly two and a half hours of the opening night of his magnum opus? Fortunately, he took the burden off my shoulders by saying to his wife, “This lady is a critic, so we can’t ask her what she thinks...” (I told you he was kind). But now I still have to go ahead and write the review.

According to Marvin Chernoff, his play Chaim’s Love Song is still a work in progress. He’s “made it more serious,” he says, than the version that opened off-Broadway in 1998. But it’s still crammed with corny jokes and pithy philosophy, and it’s at least an hour too long.

Like Herb Gardner’s 1986 Tony Award-winning play I’m Not Rappaport, Chaim’s Love Song centers around two characters who meet each day in a park to talk about their lives and the things that are important to them. Where “Rappaport” concentrated on talk about social issues, old age, and the passions of the past, however, “Chaim” concentrates on love.

Stan Mazin plays Chaim with an earnest intensity and pathos that is both engaging and appealing. He has one annoying mannerism that detracts from his otherwise admirable performance, however: he pops his eyes in astonishment when he is talking and when he is listening, no matter what is being said.

As his long-time buddy and soul-mate Oscar, Elliot Goldwag brings warmth, humor, and a “Sunshine Boys” appeal to his supporting role. And as Chaim’s son Reuben, Ryan James is excellent, appearing relaxed and comfortable, both in his role and in his skin.

Which brings us to the women, all of whom are varying degrees of terrible. Except for Susie Ruckle, who plays the clueless, unhappy young woman from Iowa who becomes the foil for Chaim’s sentimental stories and familiar old jokes. She is not required to attempt a Jewish accent, so she is credible as the troubled bench-mate of this old Jewish man.

But Irene Chapman, who is usually a good actress, is totally miscast as Chaim’s wife Sarah. She is cold and stiff—and what was she thinking with that accent? She’s attempting to be old-country Russian-Jewish, but her accent is leprechaun Irish! Jarring, to say the least.

Diana Martin plays Chaim’s daughter as a whiny, unsympathetic kvetch, and Michele Bernath rounds out the cast playing everybody else. Mostly unnecessary characters. But she does a turn as a flamboyant matchmaker that would be a real show-stopper if she didn’t mangle the Jewish accent.

Director Larry Eisenberg moves the players through the stagnant park setting (the work of designer Juliana von Haubrich), but he can’t get them to act any faster than tedious. There’s just too much talk, too many inconsequential subplots, and too much maudlin. The aftermath of the Holocaust, the exhilaration of a first trip to Israel, the emotional visit to the Wall, the arguments with God and the making up. We’ve been here before.

Sorry, Marvin. Back to the drawing board?

If maudlin appeals to you, however, Chaim’s Love Song will be running at the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theater, 10900 Burbank Blvd. in North Hollywood weekends through August 20th. It is also running in Richmond, Virginia, on Sunday, July 16th and 23rd.