Berkshire Bright Focus...

Pool Boy, book and lyrics by Janet Allard, music and lyrics by Nikos Tsakalakos. Directed by Daniella Topol..

Reviewed by J. Peter Bergman

     In a very long two hours and seven minutes Nick, the fledgling rock singer working pool-side at the Hotel Bel-Air, finds his way down the slippery slopes provided by the City of Angels. In short order he is seduced by a married woman, outrages a record producer, courts and then betrays an Arab Sultan, destroys the love of a young and ambitious woman, alienates his only friend (a misguiding mentor) and angers his boss who demotes him back to where he began. Happy ending.

     He does all this in a show that has three songs: the fast-beat one, the slow-beat one and the Latin-tempo one. All this in twenty musical numbers and twenty-five scenes.

     To be perfectly frank there are four songs that have charm, style and wit. In the first one, the slow beat, Nick kind of falls in love with April: "She Swims." In the second, the fast-beat, they examine life lived in the "Background." The third song of note gives the record producer and his slut of a wife a chance to examine (fast beat again) the option to "Live It Up." Finally, in Act Two, Nick writes his song, oops, I mean steals April’s song, another slow-beat number, called "Swimming to China." Even in this tune, he cannot create something original:

     "Swimming to China/That’s where you’ll find me/The whole world ahead and nothing behind me..." I think we’ve heard this all before somewhere.

     It’s a great and wonderful thing to examine new, emerging talents and to give them room to grow and to develop a piece for the theater. Barrington Stage Company has come up with some marvelous works in the past [The Burnt Part Boys, "...Spelling Bee," "Calvin Burger"], but this one will not be joining those ranks, I fear. Not even the bright talents of the performers found in this production can really overcome the mediocre concept and slightly lower level realization.

     Jay Armstrong Johnson plays Nick with an earnestness that would be a credit to any role. It is possible to conceive of him as J. Pierpont Finch in "How to Succeed..." He’d be terrific. Here he is trapped in a part that makes us like him less and less as he lets himself be sucked further and further down the rabbit hole of shame.

     Sara Gettlefinger is a lithe and loathsome Mrs. Duval. She imparts to this role a sensuality that would be wonderful in any part, but in this one, a despicable woman, she is just an aging seductress who lowers her self-esteem by not even being honest with herself. As her husband, John Hickok gives a performance that is so good you hope not to meet him afterward in the lobby for fear he might shake your hand as you leave the theater and you’ll not have an opportunity to wash that hand for a while.

     Cliff Bemis is Mr. Lopes who is probably the nicest character in the play. A man who has sacrificed his own identity for a quarter century to forge a minor career, he is intent on bringing every employee into submission. He’s the nicest character. Bemis gives Lopes his all and when the man does a turn-around for a moment, he becomes the quintessential hero of the show, but he loses it again, sadly. Jon Norman Schneider plays Jack, a fawning, self-deprecatory Oriental who works at the hotel and tries to manage Nick’s career. When Nick fails him by acting honestly, Jack turns into just another piece of Hollywood trash.

     And then there’s April. Cortney Wolfson plays the heroine of the piece who cannot come to grips with honesty when she’s faced with it. Nick lies, she lies. Nick tells the truth and he’s a bad man. Nick plays the "game" and he’s a bad man. Nick repents the "game" and he’s a bad man and April cannot honestly face her own intentions. Wolfson plays her wonderfully and it is almost possible to empathize with her. Even so she allies herself, for a time, with the Sultan, played wonderfully by Sorab Wadia. This character flaunts his wealth and power with a heavy hand and a sense of personal terrorism. He commands and sings of "Mortal Kombat" - the game, but is it a game to him, it’s hard to know for sure. Wadia plays the part with gusto.

     Everyone plays their parts with gusto. It’s a gusto show. There’s just no show there, when the second act feels like a new first act, when the music shows so little variation and when the lyrics, like the dialogue, are peppered with words that you can sing, but that don’t sing.

     Daniella Topol does as good a job directing this show as anyone possibly could, aided by some cute choreography by Shonn Wiley. Brian Prather’s set is functional and fun, while Holly Cain’s costumes are just right for each character. Nicole Pearce lights the show nicely, but Brad Berridge, sound designer, aided by Daniel Kopp, seems unable to balance his singers and the rock band properly. The piano was so loud on opening night that even the company singing in chorus could not always be understood, and this in a theater that isn’t even fifteen rows deep.

     There should not be any microphones needed in a house like this. Certainly there shouldn’t be any amplification of a show with so little to say, or to sing about. Let the "Pool Boy" drown in chlorinated water. Clean up this act.

Pool Boy plays through August 8 at Barrington Stage Company’s Stage 2, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield, MA. Ticket prices range from $15-$45. For information and tickets contact the box office at 413-236-8888 or go to www.barringtonstageco.org.