A Prayer to St. Jude
Phoenix Theatre's "Italian Funerals and Other Festive Occasions"
*1/2 (out of *****)
Mark S.P. Turvin
(w) 965-1021  (h) 894-5443
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@asu.edu

	As any good Roman Catholic knows, St. Jude is the patron 
saint of lost causes. When you know there's little-to-no chance 
for your prayers to be answered, you simply drop to your knees and 
call on him. When looking at the premise for Phoenix Theatre's 
latest show, "Italian Funerals and Other Festive Occasions," one 
would imagine such a prayer would be unnecessary. The show, 
written by veteran writer of stage and screen John Miranda, 
centers on an Italian man as he reminisces about his life and 
influences; most importantly, death and opera. Unfortunately, this 
show plays like a wine-into-watered-down version of "Moonstruck." 
It has the emotional impact of limp linguini, and while it does 
have a few funny and touching moments, ultimately drags on for 
two-and-a-half tedious hours. Besides having little emotional 
excitement, the production has long pauses during and between 
scenes large enough to drive a hearse through. 
	Of course, when looking at the cast list of the production, 
one could imagine that such bankable Phoenix stars might be able 
to breathe some life into this hackneyed and uninspired script. 
Unfortunately, with three notable exceptions, it seems as though 
everyone in the show walked onto the stage on auto-pilot. Perhaps 
this was the fault of director Michael Mitchell, who may have set 
up what could have been dramatic moments with an all-too-heavy 
hand. Not all of the blame can rest on Mr. Mitchell's shoulders, 
though, since great actors should be expected to transcend 
plodding direction. 
	Nicholas Glaeser, as the man whose life is given an operatic 
review, typified the actor's problems. His turgid performance 
seemed robotic, and the few times when he finally released 
emotions, as befitted his Italian-American past and his obsession 
with opera, seemed so out of place, it tended to jolt the audience 
from their slumber. 
	Central to the play are John, portrayed by Mr. Glaeser, his 
sister Brigida, weakly portrayed by Sylvia Vizcaya, and their 
slowly-slipping Mama, played tentatively by Robyn Ferracane. 
Inadvertently hilarious is Ms. Ferracane's accent, which at times 
sounds like a direct rip-off of Gilda Radner's Saturday Night Live 
character Rosanna Rosannadana. Ms. Ferracane plays a part much too 
old for her with little excitement and emotion. 
	Possibly for fear of being labeled as acting stereotypically 
Italian, most of the actors, with the exception of Charles Sohn in 
his small but important role as a Mafia don, did not play their 
parts as broadly as the script seemed to demand. Mr. Sohn's choice 
to play his part broadly might have been a negative thing in a 
better show, but it was a welcome relief in a production where 
only two others seemed interested enough to consistently try 
anything exciting. 
	One such solid performance was Rusty Ferracane's, as the 
patriarch of the family. His even-handed portrayal and sense of 
the moment were sorely missed during the second act of the show, 
after his departure. Another good performance came from Jason Adam 
Cox, the young actor who portrays, during flashbacks, the youthful 
John. The scenes where he and his father interacted were some of 
the best and most interesting in the show. This young actor gave 
the production a good amount of what little emotional power it 
actually had. 
	From there, none of the other actors bears mentioning. 
Whether shot down by a weak script or off-the-mark direction, they 
all definitely had their brief moments of emotional power that 
were marked by long periods of waiting until their next emotional 
moment. 
	As usual, Jeffrey Thomson's scenic design was commendable, 
splitting the stage between the mundane present at the forefront 
and the wildly operatic set of John's memory behind. His lighting 
design, though, left a lot to be desired, as some actors spent 
scenes in shadows, and others were all-too-obviously lit during 
dramatic moments.
	There is a sense that, should the actors have made bolder, 
more emotional and dramatic choices, this show could easily have 
worked. Of course, fear of stereotypes seems to have lead this 
cast to the opposite extreme, with sad consequences. Despite all 
of these problems, the audience seemed to like the show. Perhaps 
they were satisfied with the few truly dramatic moments that occur 
near the end. There is no reason, though, to have to wait two 
hours and twenty-five minutes for those five scant minutes to 
finally shine. 
	It's time to grab the rosary and start praying. "Are you 
there, St. Jude?"

Production Details:
"Italian Funerals and Other Festive Occasions" by John Miranda
Phoenix Theatre
254-2151
May 3-May 19, 1996

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