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Vintage 1918 comedy-drama studies some strangers aboard a train
BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
OFF BROADWAY REVIEW
An excursion into better self-awareness, “A Little Journey” involves a variety of passengers aboard a transcontinental train that speeds towards disaster.
A Broadway hit of 1918, “A Little Journey” has been rediscovered by the Mint Theater Company whose pleasing revival opened at its midtown theater on Monday.
Never a great play but certainly an absorbing one — offering today’s audiences some sweet slices of pre-World War I American life — Rachel Crothers’ comedy-drama remains a thoughtful study in personal growth as its heroine is shocked into realizing that happiness is more than mere material worth.
A Manhattan social butterfly whose wings have been clipped, the despairing Julie (Samantha Soule) boards a westbound express to live in the boondocks with begrudging relatives.
Among the middle-class people sharing the Pullman sleeping car over several days of travel are a gossipy matron (Laura Birmingham), a sporty salesman (Craig Wroe), a dear though deaf old lady (Rosemary Prinz), her ingenuous granddaughter (Chet Siegel), a couple of nice college boys (Ben Hollandsworth and Ben Roberts) and a sickly young mother (Jennifer Blood) with her baby.
Key among them is idealistic Jim West (McCaleb Burnett), a recovered wastrel who tries to awaken sorrowful Julie into a happier state of mind even as he falls in love with her. But it takes a train wreck to transform Julie.
Of course this century-old play rattles a bit but effectively arrives at a dramatic climax and an upbeat conclusion. Its naturally-flowing, slangy dialogue is a particular pleasure to hear. The story even conveys a positive message. Author-director Rachel Crothers (1878-1958) brought nearly 30 plays to Broadway – most notably “Susan and God,” “When Ladies Meet” and “He and She” – but few are seen today, which is why Mint Theater’s agenda of staging neglected works like this entertaining morsel is so valuable a mission. And fun, too, for those of us who enjoy such worthy obscurities.
