photo by Studio Rase
(left to right) David Chullanandana, Honor Friberg, Bob Verbrugge and Ian Murphy
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New Jersey's Nutley Little Theatre is celebrating 75 years of exceptional theatre and its new production of Neil Simon's "London Suite" is sweet indeed. As in "Plaza Suite" and "California Suite," we have four vignettes, all taking place in the same benighted hotel suite in London, and mayhem and near murder render me glad that hotel rooms can't talk. Vicky Chalk has directed a tight, fun and thought provoking show that will leave your mind turning over precious bits long after you've left the theatre.

The first vignette features Evan Blank as Brian, a shy, retiring writer and Miles Tepper as Billy, a soon-to-be-retiring financier. The crux of the story, however, is that Billy's retiring on Brian's money! Though not a financier on his own, Brian has put two and two together and brought his friend Mr. Browning-as in Automatic-to the party and a tense yet comic interlude begins.

Next up is a daughter with her widowed mother, played by real life mother and daughter Melissa Sandberg, as Mother, and Kirsten Greene, as Lauren. Visiting London, as they so often did as a larger family when her husband was alive, Mother's gone on a shoe-spree. It's a good thing, as she's wound up doing quite a bit of walking during their time there. Getting back into the dating game becomes something of a technical challenge, and the unraveling of the story includes a bit of moral dilemma as well. Cryptically ended and beautifully played throughout, the moments sing and zing with a natural chemistry.

Blink and it's intermission already-so rapt are we, that it's only when the lights come up that the realization dawns. Pre-curtain, intermission and intermezzo music ranges through genres and periods, though the play itself is set in 1996. Rife with tidbits that hearken those of us who lived through those times back to our recollections of them, and the understanding that, while times change, people really don't is brought home time and again.

Whom among those who have had a spouse leave him or her hasn't wondered what's become of them? Sometimes our own drama eclipses the reality of life that's around us. The opening vignette of the second act features a wildly popular and gracefully aging actress named Diana, played by the lovely Barbara McCarthy, whose bi/gay ex-husband Sidney, another star turn by Evan Blank, has a reunion and perhaps more in mind when they meet in their favorite suite. Diana's assistant Grace, played to a turn by Catherine Pulley, assures that Diana wants for nothing. Grace practically thinks Diana's thoughts before they're thunk, yet gently reminds Diana when looking out the window that, while she's never seen Sidney, she doesn't believe the man below is him. It isn't, they're not, and the deft plot twists are foreshadowed, leaving audience members feeling very clever at guessing the turn events take-yet surprises are in store.

Such an intimate theatre means that when actors perspire, emote, and turn into part of the scenery-as Mark, played by the earnest Ian Murphy, does in the final vignette-we find that we ourselves have become part of the action. Mark and his wife Annie, Honor Friberg returning after her role in NLT's "The Dead" last season, are in town for Wimbledon and, as young married couples sometimes do, are blaming one another for having lost their tickets. This is just the beginning of a madcap dash for Hell, as not only do the young couple collide with one another, but also with hotel management, employees and the local medical establishment, as well as with Hollywood itself! Mrs. Sitgood is the beleaguered member of the management team, played sharply and well by Elizabeth Camaraza. Fully a character, as perhaps we expect the English to be, her mind doesn't stop for a moment, as she's leveraging advantages for the hotel and herself. This Celtic knot includes Dr. McMerlin, played by recent NLT denizen Bob Verbrugge, who manages to turn himself into a patient. Quite a magic trick as McMerlin is a male Mary Poppins, determined to remain in his happy place, until he finds himself in the same boat as Mark. David Chullanandana is the bellman, who ostensibly can find anything, but ultimately finds himself on the floor. And Annie? Well, let's just say her crowning moment brings the individual strands of the knot together at the end.

A gifted, clever cast, and a director who knows what she wants, and knows how to get it, make this an excellent show for spring. Shake off the winter blues, get thee down to Nutley, and get your tickets early. It's a small house that sells out quickly and this show is laugh-out-loud funny. You deserve this, and so do your friends!

NLT has, as noted above, a 75-year tradition of great theatre, and this show is a family affair-many of Chalk's family members populate the set, lights, sound, action crews. Community and theatre together-it doesn't get better than this!

Evening performances of "London Suite" are set for April 9, 10, 16, 17, 22, 23 and 24 at 8 p.m. Matinees are set for April 11, 18 and 24 at 2 p.m. Tickets at $15, with a $3 discount for senior citizens and students, may be ordered by calling 877/238-5596, or online, through the NLT web site, at www.nutleylittletheatre.com, and use the "Click for Tix" icon. The April 11 matinee is a benefit for the Franklin Reformed Church in Nutley.