Lost in Yonkers

Simon's nostalgic drama about a New York Jewish family in the 1940s could have been written for the ear. Each character speaks with a distinct cadence; even young brothers Jay (Ben Diskin) and Arty (Kenneth Schmidt) are immediately recognizable from their first lines. The play is melodramatic and relies too often on verbal tricks, such as Gert's (Gia Carides) wheezing, but the core struggle is powerful. Central to it are Barbara Bain, who plays the grandmother, trapped by old pain but longing to love and protect her children, and the childlike Bella (Roxanne Hart). The range and depth of these women make this production thrilling. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

March 4, 2002
Simon's 1991 Pulitzer Prize– and Tony Award–winning play about two young boys who are forced to live for a year with their domineering, ill-tempered grandmother while their father takes a job in another state is beautifully realized by the L.A. Theatre Works cast. Like most of Simon's works, this one features an eccentric cast of characters. Listeners meet Aunt Gert (played by Gia Carides), whose voice frequently switches into a wheeze midsentence, and Uncle Louie (played by Dan Castellaneta), a Bogart-like gangster. This production realizes Simon's trademark mix of comedy and drama: the one-liners are hilarious, but the characters' sad, dysfunctional relationships are poignant. The compassionate, three-dimensional performances, combined with Simon's nuanced writing and authentic rendering of 1940s speech, make the listener fully believe in these realistic, complex characters. Standout performers include Roxanne Hart as the boys' kindhearted but nervous Aunt Bella and Barbara Bain as Grandma Kurnitz, whose tough, coldhearted exterior is a reaction to a lifetime of devastating pain and loss. Also excellent are Ben Diskin and Kenneth Schmidt as the young boys. At first lonely and miserable, fearing and hating their stern grandmother, they gradually come to respect and understand her. Based on the Random House hardcover.