Nowhere is this more apparent in his Last of the Red Hot Lovers, a play from the seventies that addresses a straight arrow’s midlife crisis and his need to change the pattern of his “nice” life to show that he did not just “exist” but that he “lived.” A terrific version of this Simon piece is now being performed by the Women’s Theatre Company at the Parsippany Playhouse on Knoll Road through November 26.
The straight arrow in question is 47-year-old seafood restaurant owner Barney Cashman, married to his high school sweetheart for 23 years and observing the sexual revolution then in full swing, worrying it will pass him by. Barney is a total square: he doesn’t smoke (cigarettes or marijuana), he’s never cheated on his wife, and his life so far has been what he himself calls “nice.” He longs to give into his fantasies and experience things he has never experienced before, things that will last him for the rest of his life. To remedy this depressing (to him) situation and intent on spreading his sexual wings, he invites three women for three separate two-hour afternoon rendezvous at his mother’s apartment. What ensues is the education of our hapless hero and two hours of laughter for the audience. (Above: L-R Bev Sheehan as Jeanette, Madeline Orton as Bobbi, Jacqueline Holloway as Elaine. Front: Lenny Bart as Barney Cashman. Photo by Alexander Justice Krajkowski) Lenny Bart is perfect as the schlubby nebbish “red hot lover” Barney Cashman, who so desperately wants life to notice him. At the first assignation, Bart’s Barney is jumping out of his skin with a severe case of nerves, plumping up sofa pillows, taking out and arranging a bottle of scotch and two glasses and sniffing his hands to see if they smell from shucking oysters and clams at the restaurant. With each meeting, Bart becomes more relaxed and confident, while his “dates” deteriorate from self-possessed to ditzy to a complete basket case. As Barney, Bart deliciously projects the decency of a man who, although he seeks a one-night stand, desires to learn more about the women and to treat them well. My only quibble with his performance is his “New Yawk” accent that is neither consistent nor convincing. It would be better to deliver the dialogue without it. After all, none of the other actors use one.
The actresses who play the three women are truly remarkable. As Elaine Navasio, Jacqueline Hollaway (an Angelina Jolie look-alike) is all business; she has come for sex and has no interest in the niceties of pre-coital conversation. Simon has written marvelously witty lines for Elaine, which Hollaway delivers with dead on comic timing, sounding natural and not like she’s delivering zingers. When Barney calls her emotionally cold, she retorts that she “needs gloves to take off her underwear.” She struts around the apartment like she owns the joint; clearly, she is in charge of the situation.
Madeline Orton matches Bart and Hollaway line for line in an outstanding performance as the ditzy and probably crazy would-be nightclub singer Bobbi Michele, whom Barney met in a park. Dressed in a Pop Art floral mini-dress and hot pink go-go boots, Orton talks nonstop, spinning the most outlandish tales of her sexual adventures, all the while keeping a straight face as though this is business as usual. She gets Barney to smoke his first joint, resulting in a hilarious high.
By the time Jeanette Fisher, his wife’s friend, appears on the scene, Barney has morphed into an almost-suave Don Juan. Cool, relaxed, he’s changed his customary blue suit for a blue plaid sport jacket, ditched his tie and substituted champagne for scotch and vodka. This time, however, his inamorata, played by a tightly wound Bev Sheehan, wants to talk while he wants quick sex. Sheehan is hilarious as she holds onto her pocketbook for dear life and poses existential questions about the existence of decency in the world. Her expressive face screwed up with angst, it’s Sheehan’s Jeanette who forces Barney to own up to his own failings.
Jonathan Wentz has designed a set that conveys Barney’s ordinariness to a T, and Roxie Zeek has provided costumes, especially for the women, that suit their personalities. Loran Moran Mills’ deft directorial hand is evident in the snappy pace and crisp performances she’s elicited from the quartet of talented actors.
Although they are set in a particular time and place, Neil Simon’s comedies convey universal truths that would be difficult to face had they not been leavened with wit and humor. Last of the Red Hot Lovers was written at the beginning of the Sexual Revolution and the Women’s Movement; Barney Cashman today would probably feel no compunction pursuing a romantic/sexual dalliance with a woman other than his wife. It’s refreshing to watch a decent guy agonize over whether what he’s doing is right, instead of what usually passes for romance on the silver screen. To watch a master playwright at work and a group of gifted actors deliver his dialogue, head on over to the Parsippany Playhouse for the Women’s Theater Company’s production of Last of the Red Hot Lovers.
Last of the Red Hot Lovers will be performed Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 3 PM through November 28 at the Parsippany Arts Center, within the Parsippany Community Center, 1130 Knoll Road (next to the Knoll Country Club) in Parsippany. A Thursday matinee for groups of 20 or more is scheduled for November 18 at 2 PM. For information and tickets, call 908.306.3033. Ample parking is available.
