By Ruth Ross
Who says senior citizens can't flirt, fall in love, think about sex? Not Joe Di Pietro! His latest opus, The Last Romance, puts the lie to that dictum in a charmingly bittersweet production at the Bickford Theatre in Morristown, where it runs through October 13.
Director Eric Haven adroitly puts a talented trio of pros through their dramatic paces to tell the story of Ralph Bellini, a lonely 80-year-old widower who has escaped the eagle eye of his caretaker Rose to go to the local dog park—although he doesn't have a dog—where he hopes to make the acquaintance of a pretty woman named Carol Reynolds who comes there with her Chihuahua Peaches each afternoon. There, he "hits on" her using a most unusual pick-up line: "Do you like opera," kids her a great deal and eventually wins her affections. But Rose does some digging and comes up with information that could spell doom for the couple. In DiPietro's skillful hands, the ending is neither too pat nor too depressing—but real and bittersweet.
Roman Klima has designed and lit a set that is serviceable, yet evocative; he accomplishes this by way of a single park bench (and a sofa for the few indoor scenes) and a series of slides projected behind the bench to suggest a park and a neighborhood of brownstones. It's just enough, for the focus here is on Ralph and Carol's developing relationship and the unveiling, little by little, of their multi-faceted characters.
J. C. Hoyt (left) is masterful in his depiction of crusty, yet lovable, Ralph (or Rafaelle, as he introduces himself) as an opera lover (he tried out for the Metropolitan Opera as a youth—as he tells Carol several times) whose zest for life has not diminished as the years pass. He still gets excited talking about La Traviata and Pagliacci, and his enthusiasm infects Carol too. Thea Ruth White (left, below) is an appropriately buttoned-up WASP, all goo-goo-eyed over her little rat-like dog Peaches. 
We watch, fascinated, as White shows Carol letting down her guard little by little until she too is infected by a desire to see an opera—at Milan's La Scala, no less! And Noreen Farley turns in a sterling performance as cantankerous Rose, annoying in the beginning of the play but she reveals a poignant story to become a very sympathetic character. Young Cory Singer appears from time to time to sing operatic arias, referring back to Ralph's audition and love of the medium and providing a sound track of sorts to the events unfolding before our eyes.
The Last Romance was to have been the Bickford Theatre's winter production last year, but Hurricane Sandy put the kibosh on rehearsal space and time, so the performance was postponed to this fall. DiPietro has just the right light touch for romantic comedy; the Bickford has produced his I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and Over the River and Through the Woods to great acclaim. Kudos to Artistic Director Hafen for bringing this tale of mature love to the Bickford Theatre stage. It is a delightful, happy yet sad treatment of an important subject, and it reinforces the idea that one is never too old to fall in love.
The Last Romance will be performed at the Bickford Theatre in the Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown through October 13. For performance times, call the box office at 973.971.3706 or visit online at www.morrismuseum.org.
Photos by Tom Kelcec.
