An all-around fabulous understudy cast has put their own unique stamps on characters created by Matt Chait in his crowd-pleaser of a dramedy, A Family Business, at the Hudson Mainstage.

Opening night introduced audiences to Chait’s colorful cast of characters—Hollywood mogul Max Gold, his tirelessly supportive wife Elena, retired shop owner Seth Klein, and Seth’s therapist wife Harmony, a foursome meeting tonight for the first time in a soiree-for-six organized by the Golds’ son Julio and the Kleins’ daughter Rose, 20somethings who’ve been dating long enough now that tonight’s dinner party at the Kleins’ could be postponed no longer.

It doesn’t take long, however, for Julio and Rose to wish they had waited another week, another month, another year, another eternity for their two sets of parents to meet.

It’s a set-up rife with disastrous possibilities, and one that had me so captivated on opening night that I jumped at the chance for a second visit, this time with an all-new cast.

And what an understudy cast Brian Shnipper has directed, beginning with 3-time Lead Actor In A Musical Scenie winner Tim Martin Gleason, whose good-guy appeal (think Alan Alda meets Tom Hanks) makes Max Gold’s megalomania come as rather a shock when it first emerges, but also makes us believe that this is a man capable of change, of redemption.

It’s a star turn that is one of the year’s best performances, and lucky for you, it is Gleason who has taken over the role for the remainder of the run.

Supporting performances are so absolutely spot-on, you’d think the alternate cast had had the same full-length rehearsal process afforded the main sextet, beginning with Deborah Ramaglia, who gives Elena an earthy quality and inner mettle that suits the role to a T.

One glance at the terrific Daniel Lench’s Seth and you can see the flower-power hippie he once was (and remains at heart to this day), and Victoria Hoffman’s Harmony lights up the stage with the kind of grown-up girl-next-door appeal that made Meg, Julia, and Sandra rom-com icons.

Breakout Performance In A Musical Scenie winner Ray Tezanos proves himself equally adept at dramatic, in-the-moment acting in a second breakout turn as Julio, and Amelia Brantley gives Rose a just-right combination of outer loveliness and inner strength.

All of this adds up to an understudy cast who deliver the goods, and then some, making this reviewer’s return visit every bit as memorable as A Family Business’s opening night.

If only last night’s second understudy cast performance hadn’t been their last. They are absolutely worth being granted a third go-round.

Note: Hoffman takes over the role of Harmony for the play’s closing weekend.

–Steven Stanley
December 7, 2023