T H E AT E R
BY RICK LEVIN
THEATER IS THE
LIFE FOR YOU
Humor and melancholy mingle in
VLT’s production of Neil Simon’s 45
Seconds from Broadway
I
’m a snob and a sniff and a two-bit dilettante of the
lowest rank.
For instance, I once dismissed Stephen King as an
immature populist hack whose middlebrow fiction is an
affront to all things literary, and I felt that same way about
playwright Neil Simon — a sentimental moron whose tweedy
Borscht Belt shtick had transformed the grand tradition of
romantic comedy into an efflorescence of twee and treacle.
I’m also a hypocrite and a poseur, because I actually cut
my teeth reading King, and I still read him. He’s a master
of his genre, no less elucidating than entertaining. And
just a brief survey of Simon’s work — The Odd Couple,
Barefoot in the Park, The Goodbye Girl, Brighton Beach
Memoirs, California Suite — shuts me down cold. I love
this stuff. It’s part of our cultural DNA.
Now 90, Simon hasn’t written a play in nearly a decade
and a half. One of his last stage pieces was 45 Seconds
from Broadway, now in production at Very Little Theatre.
In a sense, all of Simon’s work is minor — the opposite
of epic, it’s familial and familiar rather than sweeping
and staggering, and forever salted with humor — but 45
Seconds is truly minor, a nostalgic set piece that looks
back on a life in theater with an old man’s sadness,
fondness and timeworn sense of irony. It is The Tempest
set in Manhattan, with a yearning species of Weltschmerz
THE CAST OF 45 SECONDS FROM BROADWAY
replacing Shakespeare’s buoyant magical realism.
The play is set exclusively in a diner owned by Zelda
and Bernie (the wonderful Denise LaCroix and Achilles
Massahos), an older couple whose parental fondness for
their customers doesn’t necessarily equal good business
sense. The place (Bill Campbell’s set design is fantastic) is
frequented by various “grotesques,” as Sherwood Anderson
labeled his characters — various struggling or washed-up
theater types, wannabees, also-rans, folks living out the
faded dream of a Broadway never attained.
Simon substitutes sketches for a strong narrative arc,
creating a rambling and sometimes arid play that finds
peaks and valleys in its random interactions among the
diner’s patrons. At the center of it all is Mickey Fox (Chris
Pinto), an aging comedian whose penchant for cracking
wise hides the heavy melancholy of failure. Pinto, doing
his best Jackie Mason, holds things together as a man who
is hard to love but impossible not to like.
A constellation of oddballs cycles in and out of the
diner: Solomon (Kevin Huslte), a South African playwright
stranded in Manhattan; Megan, an aspiring actress/
waitress; Bessie (Katherine Collins), about to strike it big
in Hollywood; Rayleen and Charles (Diana and Don Aday),
an older couple who appear to be wrapped in delusions of
wealth and continental grandeur; Mickey’s sadsack brother
CLASSIFIEDS
BULLETIN BOARD
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Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon
believes opening up our conversations
about sexuality in mid- and later-life is
important. If you are over 55 and interested
in learning more about the many dimen-
sions of sexuality and aging, The Heart Has
No Wrinkles, is a seven-week class begin-
ning November 15th. Registration is $50.00
with 15 spaces available. Deadline to regis-
ter is November 8th. For more information,
or to register call 541-344-1611 x1014.
"Open Enrollment" event! Wednesday,
November 1st, 2017 from 2pm to 7pm at
Planned Parenthood of Southwestern
Oregon, 3579 Franklin Blvd, Eugene, Oregon
97403. Representatives from the Oregon
Health Plan, Medicare and Private
Insurances will be available to answer your
questions and help you apply. Open
Enrollment is from November 1st to
December 15th, 2017. For information call
541-337-0661.
EMPLOY MENT
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WANTED: OLD ephemera, travel/military
hand-written journals, ship logs, diaries.
Photos (especially albums) concerning ALL
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GREENHILL HUMANE SOCIETY Everybody
Deserves a Good Home. Open Fr-Tu 11a-6p,
closed We/Th 88530 Green Hill Rd 541-689-
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W. 1st Ave 541-844-1777. green-hill.org See
our Pet of the Week!
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CARVED PUMPKINS including "Ozzy" or
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Help Wanted
$DANCERS$ Tired of your current club!
SWEET ILLUSIONS has day & night shifts
available. No experience, can train.
Excellent tips! 541-852-8625 or 541-517-
7196 THE HOTTEST CLUB IN LANE COUNTY!
DIGITAL ARCHIVIST Part-time, 20-24 hrs/wk.
$12.00/hr. Requirements: Proficiency with
both Mac and PC. Experience with Adobe
Photoshop, scanning and cataloging soft-
ware. PastPerfect experience and graphics
talent a plus. Proficiency with spread-
sheets. Must be able to work independently
on repetitive tasks, supervise volunteers,
and be available for some weekend work.
Previous experience with museums, cultur-
al organizations, or non-profits a plus. Must
be able to lift 40 pounds and climb stairs.
Send cover letter and resume to: Office
Manager, Lane County Historical Museum,
740 West 13th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97402 or
officemanager@lchm.org. Deadline: 5:00
PM, October 20. For more information, call
682-4242.
45 Seconds from Broadway plays through Oct. 28 at Very Little Theatre;
$15-$19, tickets at thevlt.com or 541-344-7751.
To place a classified ad: CALL 541.484.0519 EMAIL classy@eugeneweekly.com
WEB classifieds.eugeneweekly.com WRITE 1251 Lincoln St. Eugene, OR 97401
VISIT our office Monday-Friday 9am-5pm
EVENTS
$20 BAGSALE! F, 9-22, S, 9-23. 245 W. 8th,
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Harry (Paul Rhoden); gossipy theater patrons Cindy and
Arleen (the hilarious duo of Pamela Lehan-Siegel and
Janna Blair Slack); and others.
As these various people meet, greet, collide and collude,
a tone poem emerges, one that gathers bits and pieces of
lives lived and turns them more into an atmosphere than
a story. The humor that stitches together the play’s early
moments, equal parts wise-cracking and bittersweet, gives
way in the second act to a sense of impending loss, as the
diner’s imminent closure looms. This is Neil Simon at his
best, mingling a slow churning of everyday sadness and
grief into an embattled message of hope.
45 Seconds to Broadway is a pleasant, funny and
ultimately effervescent (not always a bad thing) meditation
on community, viewed through the sometimes sharp,
sometimes rheumy eyes of a Broadway man who, when he
began, could still smell the musty curtains of vaudeville.
If, at times, the play proves slightly tone-deaf about the
modern world — harking to that seismic moment when
RuPaul humiliated Milton Berle at the 1993 MTV awards
— its elegy of loss is nonetheless poignant and timely.
As with so much of Simon’s work, sadness becomes
indistinguishable from the joyful nostalgia that afflicts it.
(up to 4 lines, 160 characters) for 2 weeks.
Briefly list your skills/experience & contact
info. Email to: office@eugeneweekly.com or
call 541-484-0519
Career Training
DISCOUNTED TATTOO TRAINING NOV.
Three students only—revamping program.
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EVENTSCALENDAR
Medical Marijuana Certifi cation
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BD, Premera BCBS, Anthem BCBS),
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Choice Health, Trillium, OHP and other insur-
ances. Make an appointment online today
at ppsworegon.org or call 800-230-PLAN
WHITE BIRD DENTAL CLINIC 1400 Mill St.
Eugene. Emergency & on-going dentistry
for Low/No income residents of Lane
County. Accepts OHP & under insured. 541-
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HOME SERVICES
Building/Remodel
OREGON STATE LAW requires anyone con-
tracting for construction work to be licensed
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Cleaning
CONNIE’S CLEANING 1 time, monthly, week-
ly/bi-weekly. 26 yrs experience. Excellent
references, reasonable rates.
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WELLNESS
LINE ADS: $11/3 LINES
ADDITIONAL LINES: $4
For more info, visit
RONI -formerly of
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click on Employment Opportunities,
then on Serenity Lane’s Counselor Training
Program Opportunities.
COMPASSION CENTER
Call 541-729-3913
541-284-5702.
Dr Holland provider
WHITE BIRD
CLINIC
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BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
JOB POSTINGS:
Mental Health Counselor
25 hours/week
Drug and Alcohol Counselor
32 hours/week
APPLY ONLINE:
You or a family member may qualify for the
Oregon Health Plan (OHP)
A family of four earning up to $2,795 a month may
qualify for adult coverage. Children in a family of four
earning up to $6,075 a month may qualify for Healthy Kids
For FREE OHP application assistance,
call 541-543-5484
whitebirdclinic.org
eugeneweekly.com • October 19, 2017
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