By Myra Chanin . . .
The warm, convivial audience who welcomed the introductory remarks by William Hayes, the Producing Artistic Director of the Palm Beach Dramaworks, on the opening night of the 2023 season made me wonder why all the would-be producers, directors and set designer beating their brains out to make it in Manhattan, don’t wise up and set their sights on being part of a community-connected theater company like Palm Beach Dramaworks, a company that concentrates on presenting diverse offerings—some classic, some recent and even a few that are brand new—to warm and convivial ticket buyers. They may not be turned on by every play performed, but they appreciate the fine quality of the acting as well as the stylish, graceful, and comforting auditorium in West Palm Beach that’s not too big, not too little, but just right.
Palm Beach Dramaworks presentations particularly pique both my intellect and emotions because the roles are so beautifully performed, often by local actors who give spot-on performances. There’s more than enough talent in this area of Florida to flood Broadway stages several times over. This season’s opener, Lobby Hero, is an early work by American film director, playwright and screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan, whose oeuvre includes award nominations for practically every word from his pen, plus an Oscar for Manchester by the Sea, a very touching film he wrote and directed.
Lonergan enjoyed what sounds like an intellectually refined private school education and two psychiatric parents who dispensed therapy rather than requiring it. He started writing stories at a young age, switched to plays in his teens and immediately won awards. He creates compelling, closely observed, character-driven dramas about mundane people assaulted by ordinary life. Rolling Stone lauded him for being an acute observer of loss. I’m impressed by his knowledge and compassion for hopelessly hopeful people like the hopelessly hopeful foursome in the Lobby Hero Quartet who stumble through their lives. The lobby is very upscale, posh and swanky, the kind found in the newer buildings in ritzy Manhattan. This lobby would probably face Central Park. The set for the play is very special to this company in more than one way. It’s the ultimate set, the last designed by the late Victor Becker for Palm Beach Dramaworks prior to his demise.
The four possible lobby heroes include the lonely 20-something Jeff (Britt Michael Gordon), a dishonorably discharged sailor sleeping his way through the night shift whenever he can. He feels lucky to have snared this job because he’s able to save enough money to repay the debt he owes his brother (with whom he boards) and will soon be able to make a deposit on an apartment for himself, which is his aim. He’s troubled because he’s lost his father’s respect. His father’s a former navy man who saved many shipmates by risking death to seal a leak in their sinking ship and is unhappy that Jeff hasn’t been able to make a career for himself at sea.
The next arrival is William (Javon Jacobs). He’s the negro “Captain” of the Security Company which employs Jeff. William has worked his way up through the ranks, He’s Jeff’s supervisor and mentor, an obsessive, persnickety overseer who demands perfection from Jeff on his nightly rounds. William is generally not a sharer of personal information, but on this night what’s troubling him slips out. William’s younger brother has been arrested, may have been involved in the murder of a single mother with three children, and he’s asked William to lie to the police and say that he and William were at movies, a request that is giving William duress. He sees himself as a faith-based, moral person, knowing and wanting to always do the “right” thing, but he is aware that in the US justice is not always blind, particularly in cases in which members of his black community are involved, so William can’t decide what to do. Jeff shares the information about the guilt of William’s brother. Will William supply his brother with an alibi? Probably, because he feels that blacks are treated unconscionably by the judicial system.
The other half, hardly the better half, enter. The third man is Bill (Tim Altmeyer), a misogynistic alpha male—a manipulating, sexually abusive, dirty cop who puts Jeff’s job in danger by refusing to sign the ledger, as is required. Bill visits only to hook up with one of the tenants, who actually may be a hooker. He is waiting for his promotion to detective, which should be coming soon.
Bill is also explaining the ropes to Dawn (Elisabeth Yancy) in more ways than one. She’s an insecure rookie, afraid because she needs Bill’s approval to nail a permanent job on the police force. It becomes obvious fairly soon that he has coerced Dawn into supplying sex to him. He also lies to her about her abilities, insults her behind her back, and humiliates her by making her wait in the lobby while he does “his business” upstairs.
Bill also knows about William’s brother’s problem and Is sucking up to William by offering to help get his brother off. Dawn is aware of this as well.
So, here’s the setup: four people share valuable information about William’s future decisions. Is anyone going to use that information to improve his or her own life? Will any of them be the hero who does the right thing?
To me, those issues were distractions. I felt they were all heroes, except for Bill the cop. They all lived dismal lives but kept hoping for a better future, probably in vain. Can you think of a more courageous way to face the future? Does anybody know about the fake alibi? Of course.
You’ll have to see Lobby Hero so find out who the hero is. Aye, there’s the rub.
Director J. Barry Lewis has shown an excellent cast how to show us how they will probably get through the rest of their lives. I think they are all heroes, living their bleak lives in such insecure parameters.
The play is touching, funny and wry. Most of the roles are endearing. It’s a good evening’s entertainment that will also leave you with plenty of thoughts about the inequities in our lives. And gratitude for being a member of this well-fixed audience instead of the probably forever-struggling characters depicted by Lonergan on the stage.
Lobby Hero. Through October 29 at Palm Beach Dramaworks (201 Clematis St, West Palm Beach, Florida). www.PalmBeachDramaworks.org
Photos: Tim Stepien
