‘Sylvia’ aims for laughs and delivers plenty

BY STUART DUNCAN

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

N.J. THEATER REVIEW

Some shows are really "Critic-proof." That is to say either the characters or the subject matter are so dear to the audience's heart that any reviewer who dares to offer even the mildest of doubt is seriously at risk.

Such a show is "Sylvia," a mild, modest comedy by A.R. ("Pete") Gurney ("Love Letters" plus other noted works.). Written in 1995 and originally staged at Manhattan Theatre Club with Sarah Jessica Parker in the title role, it has had a busy career in community, regional and college theaters since then.

And now it has opened at New Brunswick's George Street Playhouse, directed by David Saint with an attractive cast (of four, of whom one plays three roles - three different characters- three different genders). It is really an evening of mid-life angst.

Greg and Kate have moved to New York, empty nesters after 22 years in the suburbs. Greg's career as a financial trader is winding down, while Kate's career, as a public-school English teacher, is beginning to offer her more opportunities. Greg brings home a dog he found in the park — or that has found him — bearing only "Sylvia" on her nametag. A street-smart mutt, Sylvia becomes a major bone of contention between husband and wife.

The cast has been chosen for its comic abilities: Rachel Dratch, as Sylvia, is best known for a 7-year stint on "Saturday Night Live" and can whack a punch line to the sidewalls (but projection problems make the back wall a bit of a problem.). The real-life husband/wife team of Boyd Gaines and Kathleen McNenny play Greg and Kate with real insights. And Stephen DeRosa plays another dog owner in the park, a therapist and one of Kate's female friends.

Gurney's script is filled with laughs, some intricate, others definitely of the bathroom variety. But it is also filled with great warmth and occasionally real challenges. Much depends on the way the characters are developed. Every production of the work has its own dynamics. This one clearly aims for the laughs and thereby misses some of the ache behind the dialogue.

In particular, a very tender scene in which Greg is seeing Kate off at the airport while Sylvia languishes back at the apartment (on the couch, of course) misses much of the poignancy normally achieved. Each character, in turn, sings the plaintive lyrics to "Every Time I Say Goodbye," but when Ms. Dratch sings, the audience catches the humor in the way she handles the moment and laughs (hard.) It is dead wrong, not what the playwright intended. One remembers, with nostalgia the way Ms. Parker did the scene fifteen years ago.

And so, you will laugh, you will grin, you will smile. But perhaps you will not mist up.

"Sylvia" continues at George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick through April 25. Tickets are priced from $29.50 to $71.50, (732) 246-7717. Please call the box office for information and reservations or visit www.georgestplayhouse.org.