Courtesy/LALT
By KELLY DOLEJSI
Los Alamos
There’s an old saying that it’s better to be seen than viewed. Mark Smith’s comedy ‘The Viewing Room’ asks, ‘Why not both?’
The show opens this weekend. It will be performed 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays March 11-26, with a matinee at 2 p.m. March 20, at the Los Alamos Little Theatre’s Performing Arts Center, 1670 Nectar St. Admission is $18 general admission and $15 for seniors and students. Purchase tickets at the door (cash, check, or card). Tickets are also available pre-sale at Boomerang Consignment and Retail (cash or check only).
“I think our audience is going to love the mixture of humor, realization, and forgiveness in our show,” Director Wendy Caldwell Lanchier said. “I think we can all relate to this idea of wanting to leave the world a better place than the world we came into, and the notion of good intentions not necessarily leading to the best outcomes is universal.
Caldwell Lanchier complimented both cast and crew for the upcoming production.
“The cast has done a tremendous job of using their actions on stage — in addition to their words — to challenge stereotypes and put a more modern spin on the show, adding depth and dimension to the characters without changing the dialogue.”
Chester is a member of the Greatest Generation, Caldwell Lanchier said. “That alone is admirable, but it isn’t without challenge. There are outdated gender stereotypes that Chester holds and making sure we address those issues in a modern way was challenging.”
Myriad challenges existed both onstage and off, but luckily, “our crew is amazing,” the director said. “A huge part of any show is the behind-the-scenes effort. Anything that looks good took hours of planning and execution. It’s a true talent to make something look natural and effortless.”
The set includes a specially designed casket for stern patriarch Chester Dumbroski (Pat Beck), whose wake has drawn his children and wife together to mourn — and, as it turns out, to confront their individual relationships with their father and each other.
“The greatest challenge for me in playing Chester is hopping in and out of the casket without doing great bodily damage to myself,” Beck said. “But seriously, it’s been challenging for me to be true to his arc — his development as a sympathetic character.” Ever in character, Beck added, “And I’ve been surprised by my visceral reaction to my children’s and wife’s negativity toward me, taking me aback and stretching me as an actor to seek forgiveness when it hasn’t always (or ever) been earned.”
Chester and his wife Florence (Terry Beery) had five children, played by David Daniel, Teresa Bradford, Kelsey Dennison, Kelly Dolejsi, and Seona Zimmermann. Funeral home director Jay is played by Thanos Stamatopoulos, whom the director said, “always cracks me up.”
“I love playing the matriarch,” Beery said. “I feel strong affection for each of ‘my children.’ And while my relationship to their father is complicated, there is certainly an underlying love between these two strong personalities. And Wendy is an amazing director. She is so supportive of the cast and works hard to bring out the very best in each of us.”
Daniel, playing Chester and Florence’s son Matthew, complimented Caldwell Lanchier.
“Wendy is a newcomer but with a lot of raw talent, especially in casting, he said. “When I saw the initial cast list my eyebrows went up. She took some risks in casting that I might not have myself, but that unique vision is what makes this play so successful. Somehow, Wendy saw past the ‘normal’ presentation of our cast members and to a family connection that could be forged beyond that. Especially in her casting choices with Pat Beck as Chester Sr. and Seona Zimmermann as Chet Jr., we see a real willingness to hunt down the absolute best talent regardless of how ‘different’ they might seem, and I think you see that play out beautifully on our stage, paying huge creative dividends forward to our lucky audience members.”
Caldwell Lanchier said she loves the cast’s family dynamic. “They really have a family dynamic, and I love watching it. We have siblings competing for attention, sharing inside jokes, and playing off of one another in an authentic way.
“I think a lot of people feel just a little bit like they don’t ‘fit’ with their family, and sometimes that feeling is really the thing that bonds a family together the most,” Daniel said.
