ShowBizRadio

Listen to our review of Silver Spring Stage’s Broadway Bound [MP3 4:17 2MB].

Laura: This is the ShowBizRadio.net review of Broadway Bound performed by the Silver Spring Stage in Silver Spring, Maryland. Mike and I saw the performance on Sunday afternoon, November 11, 2007.

Mike: This was a very solid show. I enjoyed watching it. It was a shame about the audience that we were a part of. They had the need to share their phones and the zippers on their purses and their conversations with the rest of us. It was so distracting. I don’t know how the actors stood it. It was the worst audience I have ever been a part of. The show itself was pretty good.

Laura: Silver Spring Stage gives consistently good performances. The actors and actresses seem like a real community effort. Seem pretty comfortable on stage with each other. Too bad it was an audience that felt the need to share every moment with all of us!

Mike: Broadway Bound is a play by Neil Simon. It takes place in a home in Brooklyn New York, in the late 1940’s. Brothers Eugene and Stanley have the dream of one day writing for CBS Radio. They also have to deal with their crazy family and the situations they get into. Which really isn’t that different from most of the rest of the people in the neighborhood. They get their big break and they have to decide if they will stay in Brooklyn or move to the city.

Laura: The younger of the two brothers, Eugene, was played by Jamie Driskill. He was the more sympathetic brother. He played the role a little bit safer. He was the one who would talk with his mother and listen to what she has to say. I think he was much more caring than Stanley and willing to take in what was going on around him and process it a little bit more before he gave his opinion.

Mike: Eugene also served as the narrator for the show. He did that very well. He would simply drop out of the scene and talk to the audience. At Silver Spring Stage with their unique shaped stage they did a pretty good job of keeping both audiences involved in the show.

His brother Stan was played by Michael Avolio. He was a little more hyper and a little crazier about the scent of success that was right in their grasp. He wanted to stay so focused. At the beginning of the second act he had a great scene getting the family all together to listen to the radio program. He was fidgeting and he was nervous and yelling at the radio and yelling at his mom (you don’t yell at your mother). I think he did a great job with all those scenes.

Laura: Their mother, Kate, was played by Linda L. Moore. She was also very good and very believable. She had some very good scenes towards the end of the first act with her husband Jack, played by Norm Glickman. She was very emotional and very passionate about her feelings and wanting to be appreciated. Yet giving up her dreams to lead a family.

Mike: She also had a sense of quiet dignity and I really enjoyed her performance. It was very strong.

The set for Broadway Bound was designed by Andrew Greenleaf. It was very nice. I was wondering how they were going to do the second floor bedroom that the two boys used since the ceiling is so low at the Silver Spring Stage. They designed it really well. It was only up a few inches at the back of the stage, but it worked really well especially combined with the lighting design. The lights were designed by Don Slater and I think the combination of the nice set and the efficient use of the lighting worked very well.

Laura: I do recommend that you do go see this show. I think you’ll enjoy it very much. Broadway Bound is playing through December 2nd. Friday and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sunday matinees at 2 pm at the Woodmoor shopping Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. The show runs about two hours and forty minutes with one intermission. I think you’ll have a good time at this show. The nostalgia of the 1940’s will come out, along with the sense of family and commitment.

Laura: And now, on with the show.

Cast

• Kate: Linda L. Moore
• Ben: Ken Lechter
• Eugene: Jamie Driskill
• Stan: Michael Avolio
• Blanche: Carole Preston
• Jack: Norm Gleichman
• Radio Voices:
• Announcer: David Steigerwald
• Chubby Waters: Scott Holden
• Mrs. Pitkin: Frances Burnet

Production Staff

• Producer: Norman Seltzer
• Director: Norman Seltzer
• Assistant Director: Linda Senne, Terry N. Toot
• Stage Managers:Linda Senne, Terry N. Toot, Roselie Vasquez-Yetter
• Technical Director: Don Slater
• Set Designer: Andrew Greenleaf
• Master Carpenters: Andrew Greenleaf & Glen Belcher
• Set Painting: The Primetime Set Painters
• Lighting Designer: Don Slater
• Sound Designer: David Steigerwald
• Costume Designer: Sandy Eggleston
• Set Dressing: Andrew Greenleaf, Sonya Okin
• Properties: Sonya Okin
• Makeup & Hair Design: The Cast
• Light Operator: Rob Argue
• Sound Operator: Samuel Basa
• Running Crew:Ashley Byrd, Nancy Jaquish, Chere Williams, Julia Wolz
• Photographer: Neil Edgell, Jr.
• Program: Leta Hall
• Program Cover Design: Audrey Cefaly
• Subscription Brochure: Audrey Cefaly
• Artistic Liaison: Richard Ley
• Opening Night Party: Linda Senne