WORLD PREMIERE AT PITTSBURGH PUBLIC

5. June 2009 by admin.

WORLD PREMIERE AT PITTSBURGH PUBLIC

F. J. Hartland

             Set in a run-down full-service gas station (remember those?) in Youngstown Ohio in 1977, Harry’s Friendly Service is now playing on the stage of the Pittsburgh Public Theatre.

            The Public had done a reading of the play by Rob Zellers last year which I attended.  And I have to admit, I liked the reading better.

            The new version of Harry’s Friendly Service is a much darker take than the original and lacks the charm and humor that I had found so appealing. 

           Harry (Edward James Hyland) is the owner of the gas station where a group of misfits meet for pinochle.  There’s Skiddie (Larry John Meyers), a bookie; Tina (Brooks Almay), who runs the neighborhood strip club; and John (Joel Ripka), an alcoholic, down-on-his-luck attorney.  Outside, steel workers are on strike; inside, Harry’s daughter Emily (Tressa Glover) shows up after twelve years in an orphanage, where Harry placed her after his wife died.  Eventually, two mobsters from the Carducci family (Darryl Heysham and Alex Coleman) arrive.

            This new version of Harry is meaner and leaner than the original.  In fact he is so unlikeable that by the time he has his big emotional moment in Act Two, it’s hard to care about him.  Meanwhile, Tina comes across far more caricature than character, and Almay seemed rather tongue-tied the night I saw the show.  Her performance (and her costumes) makes her look like something out of a cartoon.

            Larry John Meyers brings a real energy to the opening scene, but the role never really gives him a chance to shine.  Heysham and Coleman do a fine job portraying two different generations of a mob family

.            The highlight of the show is the performances by Ripka and Glover.  Their love scenes have such real innocence you can not help grinning.  Ripka perfectly captures a young man driven to drink by a slew of personal tragedies.  He makes you believe there is still a person of value struggling to escape the bottle.  Glover is delightful as the idealistic young woman trying to find the approval (and love) from the father who abandoned her.

            Directed by Ted Pappas, the play moves at a swift pace through the eight scenes.

            James Noone’s set along with Kirk Bookman’s lighting create an uber-realistic world for the play, including old tires, road signs and car parts.  One could undoubtedly spend hours just looking at all the detail.  Kudos to whoever selected the music, which brought back the 1970’s in a wonderful way. 

           I couldn’t tell you the precise changes that were made in Harry’s Friendly Service between the reading and this full production. But I think it might behoove Zellers to go back to that earlier version and try to re-capture some of the elements that made it so enjoyable.

            Harry’s Friendly Service runs through June 28 at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre

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