Little Theatre’s ‘Pictures’ lacks humanity

Neil Simon's "I Ought to Be in Pictures" is an uneasy mixture of wisecracks and schmaltz. Las Vegas Little Theatre's production gives us plenty of both, but fails to find much humanity in the two extremes.

Dad (Scott McGee) is a screenwriter who can't commit to work or relationships. Daughter (Rachel Lanyi) has come west to be with him, even though they're strangers, because she wants to be a movie actress. Dad's girlfriend (Amy Turner) is getting on in years and wants Dad to commit. In the end, daughter and girlfriend lecture Dad so much on the beauty of commitment that he gives in. In between, there are lots of tears and jokes and pontifications.

There are people who love this sort of manipulative sentimentality (although Simon's lack of recent Broadway success suggests America may be coming to its senses), and director Paul Thornton has found three performers more than capable of putting over the material.

McGee comes across as likable, attractive, a confused Everyman. He resists the temptation to exaggerate the laugh lines. Turner has little to do but look concerned at McGee, but she plays concern well. One suspects that in the right role, she'll prove herself a fine actress.

Lanyi is problematic. She has most of the sarcastic dialogue, and for a while she makes the most of it. But we simply tire of her. I can't decide if there's not enough soul under her humor, or too much (we realize very early that her spit-fire delivery is meant to mask a troubled heart). By the middle of the first-act, I wanted to take cover. Thornton and Lanyi haven't found enough levels for the role, although you can't help but be in sympathy for what they were up against. Without a daughter to care about, it's difficult to get involved in the script's basic dramatic situation.

Ron Lindblom's detailed West Hollywood bungalow set suggests an occupant living on the edges of poor. Yet, it offers enough variety and color to make it interesting to the eye (particularly in the second act, when the daughter imposes her own decorative touch to the place).

But, hey, if you're nuts about Simon, I urge you to go. I've seen worse.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at DelValle@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.