TOM TITUS -- Theater Review

There really is no comparison in quality or presentation between the

two one-act plays being staged by Orange Coast College’s Repertory

Theater Company. How do you compare a work by a Pulitzer Prize-winning

author to one by a local playwright being staged for the first time?

OCC’s student company is staging “Lou Gehrig Did Not Die of Cancer,”

an early one-act by Jason Miller, who won the Pulitzer for “That

Championship Season” three decades ago. Alongside that, the company is

performing a touching drama set before and years after the Holocaust,

“Where Were You on Your Ninth Birthday?” Both are set in 1972, with

flashbacks to 1942 in “Ninth Birthday.”

Both plays are directed by Alex Golson, longtime supervisor of OCC’s

drama program, but he’s chosen the cream of the student crop for “Lou

Gehrig.”

In “Gehrig,” Miller has chosen a pair of themes that most audiences

can identify with -- Little League sports and community theater. Victor

is a hot-tempered Italian coach of a boys’ baseball team and his wife,

Barbara, is a local actress preparing to open in a production of “Hedda

Gabler.”

If you mused, “not much in common,” you’d be so right. Greg McClure

and Jessica Marie Hutchinson have a field day with these roles,

beautifully stressing their contrasting qualities without slipping over

the edge into parody. McClure gradually reveals the humanity beneath the

machismo, while Hutchinson seethes with frustration over a marriage gone

sour.

It would take a miracle to save this union, and the one that arrives

-- Miracle Laurie as the mother of a frustrated ballplayer -- does not

have this mission in mind. Laurie’s tentative politeness melts McClure’s

rabid defensiveness, and there’s a good indication at the fade-out that

there’ll be a good deal of their story yet to tell.

“Where Were You on Your Ninth Birthday?” is a drama about the

aftermath of the Holocaust written by a survivor, George Rothman, who

obviously is basing his main character’s experiences on his own. It’s a

noble effort that would benefit from an injection of the visceral

strengths in the “Lou Gehrig” play.

David (Michael Cavinder) is a Californian who was rescued from the

Hitler regime as a young boy in Paris. It’s something he doesn’t care to

reminisce about, and the desires of his wife (Malia Fee) to visit Israel

kindle fervent opposition.

Flashback to Paris in 1942 as David’s parents (Rachael Maddalena and

Matthew McCabe) anguish over the fate of their son when the Nazis come

for them. A kindly French couple (Henry Wyatt Moore and Anne Gray)

arrange for his placement in an orphanage as a Catholic, thereby saving

his life.

Of the cast, only Maddalena delivers the wrenching performance that

draws the audience into her plight. Physically and emotionally, she is

perfect for her assignment, and she carries it off with tear-inducing

power. McCabe has some occasional poignant moments as her tormented

husband.

Cavinder starts at a disadvantage. His character, by simple math,

should be 49 in 1972, but the actor appears barely into his 20s (changing

the time from ’72 to, say, 1956 might help). Nevertheless, he delivers an

effective interpretation, though much is left on the surface.

Fee is soft and supportive as his wife, but a little grit could

enhance the conflict. Gray and Moore are quite bland as the French

benefactors.

There is enough substance in the premise to use as a foundation in

the construction of a fine, thought-provoking play. It will be

interesting to trace its development.

FYI

WHAT: “Lou Gehrig Did Not Die of Cancer” and “Where Were You on Your

Ninth Birthday?”

WHERE: Orange Coast College Drama Lab Studio, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa

WHEN: Closing performances 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m.

Sunday.

COST: $5 or $6

CALL: (714) 432-5725