THE LITTLE FOXES
Westfield Community Players
proudly presents
THE LITTLE FOXES
by Lillian Hellman
Directed by
JOANN SCANLON
Featuring
PAUL BETTYS - FRED CUOZZO - JAMES GRANT
MEGAN GUINAN - TOM HODGE - DAVID HOFFMAN
NENA SMITH JENKINS - LYNN LANGONE
CATHERINE ROWE - MARK SZABO
Performance Dates:
October 9, 16, 17, 22, 23, 29 & 30, 2004
8:00 PM
Tickets $15.00
For Reservations call 908-232-1221
Westfield Community Players
1000 North Avenue West
Westfield, NJ
posted by Catherine Rowe @ 7:32 AM
2 Comments:
Cast change for THE LITTLE FOXES. James Grant, who was cast in the role of Cal, has been replaced by Tyrell Willis.
Review of THE LITTLE FOXES from the Westfield Leader 10/14/04 - by Susan M. Dougherty
"How little people know about each other," laments a character in THE LITTLE FOXES, Westfield Community Players' (WCP) first offering of their 71st Season.
However, by the end of the Lillian Hellman classic drama, we know plenty about the middle class Hubbard family that lives in the Deep South in 1900. Written over 35 years ago, the script sounds amazingly like the soap operas and tragedies of families in many towns in America today.
Victorian furniture, antebellum southern clothing and the soft, gentle, authentic drawls invite the audience into a kinder, gentler time. As the play unfolds, however, the saccharine facade of the family members gives way to an undercurrent of the age-old problems of greed, sibling rivalry and competition.
White ties, tails and formal gowns in the first scene can't hide resentment, anger and frustration that festers beneath the surface of many of the family members. From early on, Oscar Hubbard badgers his wife Birdie about her drinking and just about every other thing she does.
This pre-Civil Rights and pre-Women's Rights period piece gives the audience a glimpse of the world when the "n" word was used by Southerners about their black servants and women had little significance in the world except to bear children.
In Scene I, the family gathering is a dinner for Mr. Marshall, a businessman from the North who has come to make an offer to the Hubbards to partner a factory in the old cotton mills. The two brothers, Ben and Oscar Hubbard and their sister Regina, with her husband's money, want to become rich by exploiting cheap black labor.
"Tonight's an important night - make a wish Birdie - it's bound to come true," Regina coaxes her sister-in-law after Mr. Marshall has left and the big deal is all but sealed. Birdie wishes, like most of us, for a kinder, sweeter time in her life, to be back on Lyonette, her father's cotton plantation. It's the Scarlett O'Hara in all of us who longs for a more peaceful, more restful, calmer time at Tara where everything will be all right.
A consistent strength in acting brings this classic to life. Specifically Lynn Langone plays Birdie Hubbard with compassion and humor. In Act II when Birdie has imbibed too much of Addie's homemade elderberry wine, her confession of never having a full day of happiness is heartbreakingly real because of her passion and intensity.
On the other hand, Birdie's husband Oscar, aptly played by Mark Szabo, is the least sympathetic character, provoking the audience to irritation. Yet because Szabo is so focused on maintaining that villainous heart, his talent shines.
In the pivotal female role of Regina Giddens, Catherine Rowe is convincing as the vitriolic, mean-spirited sister who successfully ruins her marriage, disillusions her daughter and alienates her brothers and nephew. A manipulative, beautiful viper, she is lovely to behold, but deadly if one gets too close.
Tom Hodge, playing her sick husband Horace Giddens, mops his perspiration-filled brow, gets flushed repeatedly and truly looks like he is a suffering man, anguished and weary from the world's evil ways.
David Hoffman effortlessly plays the role of Ben Hubbard, the brother who repeatedly cajoles and manipulates his sister while underestimating her cunning. An Enron-like executive, Ben, a sly fox, makes sure he doesn't know too much about the dirty dealings that are afoot.
WCP has cast a young, talented trio in Tyrell Willis, Nena-ReNee and Megan Guinan, giving them a chance to experience community theater and giving the audience a chance to enjoy their youth and vitality. Guinan, a junior in high school, shows particular promise in sensitive portrayal of her character.
Producer Cynthia Smyth has done a marvelous job of dusting off this Hellman antique and polishing it to a high luster. With Joann Lopresti Scanlon as Director and Syndie Szabo as Assistant Director, nothing is left to chance. Their fast-paced and well-balanced show is a visual delight.
Fran Harrison, WCP president Naomi Yablonsky and Joyce Goldstein have assembled the lavish, vintage-like costumes. The set design by Bill McMeekan is first rate with marvelous draperies, authentic artwork and glorious set decoration by Jo Ray. Lighting Designer Bob Murray illuminates the stage with nostalgia.
"There are hundreds of Hubbards out there; they're like us," reveals Ben to his greedy sister at the end of the play. Unfortunately, perhaps he is right.
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