A Final Toast

Eighty-one year old Blanche (Jana Robbins), a well heeled Jewish widow, is in her garden when the smoke alarm sounds. Her daughter Ella (Jolie Curtsinger) enters just in time to turn off the burner. She rails at Blanche. This is not the first time. Firemen have been previously summoned. She might burn down the house. Blanche’s mind increasingly wanders exhibiting an onset of dementia. Ella plans to move her to Riverside Senior Living.

Jana Robbins (Blanche) Jolie Curtsinger (Ella)

Their mother-daughter relationship is fraught. Favoring son Richie, Blanche has always been critical of her daughter rationalized by honesty and helpfulness. On Richie’s wedding day, his mother told her son that he was marrying a gold-digging bimbo – a Shiksa (non Jewish woman) who was beneath him. He hasn’t spoken to her since. Because of this, despite being suspicious, Blanche didn’t interfere with Ella’s choice of husband when she might’ve rescued her. She was right-in spades. The story of past trials is pivotal, but exposition is dense.

Ella hires a professional to help Blanche divest before moving. Alice (Sachi Parker) is sunlight on the hoof. She’s kind, patient; organized and practical. Of things kept for remembrance or sold for money only a Chinese vase and a Piaget watch stand out. The fact of them circles back. Parker is wonderful. The actress exudes calm compassion. Facial registration of her client’s misremembering is nuanced. She even moves with graceful intention.

Jana Robbins (Blanche)

A parallel situation in different packaging occurs in Alice’s life as her more recently widowed mother Carol (Joy Frantz – so credibly brittle and anxiety driven, she vibrates) obsesses about an onslaught of moths. (Great dialogue.) While Blanche was an upscale housewife with help, Carol, a Christian, put her husband through law school. Mother-daughter bond is sympathetic.

Unbeknownst to both octogenarians and Ella, who barely visits, the two mothers end up neighbors at Riverside, though Blanche has a more luxurious apartment. One night, Blanche breaks into Carol’s room -with a bobby pin-for company. At first unaware of Alice as a connection, they also find a corrosive association in shared past.

Sachi Parker (Alice), Joy Franz (Carol)

Playwright Michele A. Miller divulges no facts or feelings before they affect plot. She skillfully braids diverse stories under and over until “fastened.” Love is portrayed in several colors, as is hurt, betrayal, and misconception. Aging is judiciously addressed. It’s easy to identify with at least one of the four protagonists.

Judaism runs through the tale like veins in a leaf; one sees flora, not the  skeleton without which it couldn’t exist. As antisemitism rises around us, a look at its insidiousness reminds, once again, that it often begins hidden or masquerades. Two caveats: The early part of the play needs weeding and our awareness of covid is tenuous.

Director Kathy Curtiss successfully distinguishes her characters. Use of space is organic; pacing good. Stage business is often adroit. At one point, talking to Ella in Blanche’s garden, Alice, a nurturer, pulls dead leaves off a potted plant. At another, wailing about moth infestation, Carol takes her husband’s sweater from around her shoulders to show Alice (an excess of) holes. As conversation continues, she absently wipes her nose with it. There are, however, character issues. 

Jana Robbins (Blanche), Joy Franz (Carol)

My first note on Jana Robbins was “ersatz Linda Lavin.” At intermission, I read in the program that Robbins covered Lavin on Broadway. Early on, she tries too hard. Her accent is so exaggerated, so fake, we find ourselves distancing from someone with whom we need to feel rapport. The actress also has a habit of surreptitiously glancing at the audience. Robbins is volubly better in Act II when Blanche’s strength, determination, and joie de vivre override self-consciousness. As this was opening night, it’s likely she’ll settle in.

Jolie Curtsinger is believably stiff and withheld, but may carry the attributes too far. We see next to no emotion even when verbally expressed.

L-R: Sachi Parker, Joy Franz, Jana Robbins, Jolie Curtsinger

Richard Curtiss’ Projections are, one assumes, a matter of budget restriction. Environs are apt, but ultimately unnecessary. When a first change occurs, we have no idea where we are. Looped videos (Dave Biesinger) of an elderly man are a complete puzzlement until we guess he’s Blanche’s deceased husband, Morty. They’re more distracting than an addition.

With a little tightening, Final Toast might favorably run. It’s topical in many ways, understanding, and well drawn.

Photos by Jonathan Slaff
Opening: Sachi Parker (Alice), Jana Robbins (Blanche)

Renaissance Now Theatre & Film presents
A Final Toast by Michele A. Miller
Directed by Kathy Curtiss
Chain Theater  
312 West 36th Street  3rd Floor
Through May 26, 2024

About Alix Cohen (1922 Articles)
Alix Cohen is the recipient of ten New York Press Club Awards for work published on this venue. Her writing history began with poetry, segued into lyrics and took a commercial detour while holding executive positions in product development, merchandising, and design. A cultural sponge, she now turns her diverse personal and professional background to authoring pieces about culture/the arts with particular interest in artists/performers and entrepreneurs. Theater, music, art/design are lifelong areas of study and passion. She is a voting member of Drama Desk and Drama League. Alix’s professional experience in women’s fashion fuels writing in that area. Besides Woman Around Town, the journalist writes for Cabaret Scenes, Broadway World, TheaterLife, and Theater Pizzazz. Additional pieces have been published by The New York Post, The National Observer’s Playground Magazine, Pasadena Magazine, Times Square Chronicles, and ifashionnetwork. She lives in Manhattan. Of course.