It can be dangerous to go see a play written by a friend. Heck, it's scary enough seeing one in which a friend is performing…but at least then if it's an excruciating evening, you can say something like, "You deserve to be in something better." When you know the author…well, what do you say with your mouth when your face is frozen from witnessing the opening number of Springtime for Hitler? You're stuck with ambiguous, faux compliments like…
- "This is an evening I'll remember for a long time!"
- "Only you could have come up with something like this!"
- "That was memorable! Truly memorable!"
- "I've never seen anything like it before!" (Or if the horror is how much of the play was stolen from real good ones, "It reminded me of so many of the classics!"
- "This was much, much better than so many things that aren't nearly as good as this!"
Fortunately, I needed not a one of those last night when Carolyn and I went to see A or B, a new comedy having its world premiere at the Falcon Theater out in Burbank. My pal Ken Levine had the decency to write a real good and clever script that held our attention and kept us laughing throughout.
You probably read Ken's fine blog and know his work. If so, you can skip the following paragraphs about who he is, which I stole from an online bio. (If you do read them, pretend they mentioned that Ken's TV work has been done in partnership with another clever gent, this one named David Isaacs)…
Levine's career has spanned over 30 years. He worked as the head writer of M*A*S*H, producer of Cheers, creative consultant of Frasier and Wings, wrote episodes for The Simpsons, The Jeffersons and Becker amongst others. Levine also co-created three of his own series including Almost Perfect starring Nancy Travis. A or B? is Levine's second stage play. His first, Upfronts and Personal received several stage readings in Los Angeles and New York with cast members including Jason Alexander, and Ed Asner.
Within the last 20 years Levine did radio/TV play-by-play for the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, and San Diego Padres, contributed to ESPN and Fox Sports, as well as hosted Dodger Talk for eight years on the Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network, of which he was twice named Best Sports Talk Host by the Southern California Sportscasters Association. Levine carries an Emmy, two Writers Guild Awards, and Peabody and Humanitas recognition.
So the guy's done something. I suspect you'd know that if you saw A or B? with no clue as to the prior experience of the author. It's really well-crafted and every line is either funny, insightful or — most often — both.
It's about a man and a woman (I told you he was clever) and about the many ways in which their relationship might develop. Initially, she meets him for a job interview but, as so often happens, there's a rumbling of romantic attraction from the get-go. What could result if she doesn't get the position but does wind up sleeping with him? What could happen if she does get hired and the love connection submerges, only to surface later?
A or B explores many possibilities. Each time the actors play a scene in which "A" happens, it's followed by one in which "B" happens instead. I'll admit to briefly losing score a few times but I never lost my interest in those two people and how their lives evolved.
Ken had a great assist in making that happen. The direction by Andrew Barnicle is sharp and smooth. And the two people are portrayed by two first-rate actors who get every bit of humor and meaning out of every line. The guy is Jason Dechert, who somehow manages to be handsome, smart, naïve, strong, vulnerable, serious and funny, all at the same time. The gal is Jules Willcox, whose energy and personality just sparkle from the first line of the play. She, like Dechert, goes through a rainbow of emotions, often doing a 180° reverse from moment to moment, but still maintaining a human, consistent characterization.
These are not easy roles that Ken has written and he got really, really lucky to find two people who could handle sudden changes that might have given lesser actors a bad case of whiplash. That was another thing that held onto my interest and wouldn't let go from the start until the final curtain. That…and the fact that they're both so adorable that you really feel you're watching a couple and not actors portraying a couple.
Well actually, there was no final curtain because the Falcon doesn't have a curtain…but you know what I mean. If you haven't been there, it's a little jewel box of a theater that I suppose exists because Garry Marshall has just too much money and didn't know what to do with it all. (Ken engages in a shameless bit of product placement: Ms. Willcox's character keeps talking about the movie Pretty Woman, directed by the Falcon's owner. There are also, as on Ken's blog, references to Natalie Wood and to the destructive micro-management practiced by TV networks these days.)
The Falcon is out in Burbank, across the street from the Bob's Big Boy. The play runs through November 16 and there are tickets left but not many. If you know Ken, don't worry. It's safe to go. You'll be able to tell him you had a great time and you won't have to lie.