Q: How do you stage a classic that’s been done so many times that nearly
everyone’s seen it at least once?
A: Hire Jessica Kubzansky to direct it, as if it were a brand new play.

That’s just what the Colony Theatre Company has done with Tennessee
Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, with absolutely sensational results. This Glass
Menagerie is indeed as fresh and new as it would be were it a world premiere.

Kubzansky’s vision of TGM differs from its predecessors in two significant ways.

First of all, she has found the humor in William’s script. Some have complained
that the audience laughs too often. Of course they do. TGM is really quite funny;
for example, Amanda Wingfield’s attempts to sell magazine subscriptions are
downright hilarious.

Secondly, Kubzansky has done her math and realized that Amanda, a Southern
debutante, would have married young (no spinster she) and that with her
grown children in their 20s, would still be in her 40s at the time Laura was
pretending to attend secretarial school, and Tom was talked into inviting a
gentleman caller for his sister. She must therefore be played by an actress of not
only the right age, but also by a woman who was/is a beauty.

Casting Lisa Pelikan as Amanda was a stroke of genius. She is a marvelous
actress, who can find Amanda’s poignancy and her ditzy humor, and with her
high cheekbones and striking red hair, she proves that beauty doesn’t end with
one’s 40th birthday.

As Amanda’s son Tom, Kubzansky hired Louis Lotorto, one of L.A.’s finest talents.
Lotorto is clearly too old to be Pelikan’s son, but remember that it is grown
up/grown older Tom who is telling the story of this "memory play." The closeness of
their ages works. We see the Tom of today and the Amanda of his early 20s and
we see that in many ways they’re not that different. Lotorto has a chameleon-
like ability to morph into any character he plays, and as Tom he gives an intense
wow of a performance.

Equally memorable is Mandy Freund’s work as Laura. Besides being one of the
most talented—and interesting—actresses around, Freund has a quirky beauty
that suits Laura to a T. One can believe that this Laura feels herself unattractive
because of her slight limp and crippling shyness, yet we see also that she is
capable of being as lovely as her mother was if she just believes in herself.

It is precisely because we can see Laura’s potential that we so readily believe
Johnathan McClain’s charming performance as Jim, the Gentleman Caller.
McClain’s Jim is a real mensch, a guy who’s popular not just because he’s
athletic and good-looking, but because he’s the kind of man who sees the best
in those around him and makes others feel special.

Back to Ms. Kubzanky, whose conception of the play undoubtedly influenced
Michelle Ney’s scenic and costume design. The Wingfield apartment is
surrounded by a chainlink fence, symbolizing Tom’s feeling of being trapped, and
when Amanda dresses like Scarlet O’Hara for the gentleman caller’s visit, it’s an
inspired choice, for Amanda most certainly sees herself as Miss O’Hara’s
descendent.

Jeremy Pivnick has created a dreamlike lighting design which enhances the
"memory play" aspect of Williams’ script as does sound designer Randall Tico’s
haunting original music.

This is a Glass Menagerie that deserves to be savored. Those seeing it for the first
time will do so with a sense of wonder and discovery. And for those who’ve seen
it before (quite possibly more than once) and who agree to experience it
without preconceptions…it will be a revelation.
MARCH 2006, COLONY THEATRE, BURBANK.

--Steven Stanley