Actors Reflect on 'Brighton Beach Memoirs' Roles

Village Players director Oliver Sprague said he was drawn to Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs" for its ability to show "the internal mechanics of a family, and how families work, and how they pull together to get things done."

The show features a cast of seven: Vince Evangelista (Eugene Morris Jerome), Isabella Fraraccio (Laurie), Hal Granholm (Jack Jerome), Jonathan Hogsett (Stanley Jerome), Sara Horrocks (Nora), Denise Mesina (Aunt Blanche) and Theresa Miller (Kate Jerome).

"I like working in a small ensemble," Miller said. "And the show is so real. The things that happen to us as a stage family could happen to anybody in a real family."

Brighton Beach Memoirs precedes Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound in the semi-autobiographical Neil Simon trilogy.

The set showcases the Jerome household, in which a lot of the action takes place in an upper-lever bedroom. That's where, as noted by a New York Times review of the 2009 Nederlander Theater production, "the Jerome brothers, 14-year-old Eugene and 18-year-old Stanley, sleep, kvetch, fight, joke and occasionally cry during several momentous days in 1937."

In the local production, Hogsett plays the role of Stanley.

"Stanley is really proud of himself, there's a lot of me in him," Hogsett said. "But also he's afraid of measuring up, which is me, too." With the show overall, Hogsett said, he likes "the mix of comedy and drama," and that "you don't know what to expect."

As the younger brother, Eugene, the actor said he likes how the character is "all over the place."

"You don't know what's going to come out of his mouth next," Evangelista said.

The show opened May 17 and 18. Remaining show dates are May 23-25 and 30-31. Also, June 1.

Doors open 7:30 p.m.; curtain time is 8 p.m. Curtain for the Sunday, May 25 matinee is 3 p.m.; doors open at 2:30 p.m. The theatre is at 506 Fifth Street, north of State Road 60.

Regular admission is $14.00. Tickets for students, seniors and military, with identification, cost $12. Group rates are available.

For information, call 813-643-8292. Visit the Village Players online.