"Ten Cent Night" at Burbank's Victory Theatre

---Theatre Review

The Victory Theatre Center may be modest in size, but the intense, complex drama played out in their current production of Marisa Wegrzyn´s "Ten Cent Night" is very impressive. Full of pathos and humor, heartbreak and joy, it´s the story of a sweet country song and how its origin and the royalties it earns tears a family apart… and brings it back together.

The audience is drawn into the story from the moment they meet Roby Finley, the down-on-her-luck, wannabe country singer with a penchant for booze and a mouth that needs soaping.

Having imbibed all her meager earnings from the sleazy New Orleans bar where she sings, Roby begs a place to sleep from one of its few patrons, a shy, handsome, mute named Danny Doucet, whose own occupation is somewhat suspect. He takes her in, but his efforts to get her sober are futile. It takes a letter from home to do that.

After a run-in with the law that leaves Roby handcuffed to a folding chair, she starts out for Texas (carrying the chair and a guitar case full of someone else´s money) hitchhiking her way to the ramshackle house where she grew up. Feisty and fearless, a "paper doll cut out of sandpaper," she´s determined to answer her younger sister´s plea for help.

What Roby discovers when she arrives home – about herself, her siblings, a few other characters, but especially about her heaving-drinking, semi-famous, song-writing father – is the heart and soul of the play. The skillful way Tara Buck interprets this character allows the audience to glimpse the vulnerability and kindness beneath her tough exterior.

Caitlin Muelder plays Deanna, Roby´s responsible, "good twin" who stayed home and tried to hold the orphaned family together. She harbors a deep longing for a man she can´t have. When she learns the reason he´s off limits (yes it´s connected with the song), it almost destroys her and leaves her ripe for the picking.

Alison Rood plays Roby´s young sister, Sadie whose teenage heart yearns for first love… and for a surgery that will keep it beating. She´s "the healer" in the family´s dynamics, but can anyone help her? Roby hopes to, unless she´s forced to give back the money.

Shane Zwiner is Sadie´s twin brother, Holt, who carries too much guilt and responsibility on his young shoulders. "Why didn´t I get the defective heart?" he anguishes. After their father´s shocking suicide, his vow to protect and love his sister goes a step too far. Zwiner´s portrayal of the teenager´s angst is very moving.

Gareth Williams plays the slick Roscoe Lamar, who trails his money to the Finley doorstep. It takes a ´woman of the night´ and a very rare dime to soothe his anger. Williams so skillfully depicts Roscoe as the half-con-man, half-hopeless-romantic that he is, we end up liking him.

Kathleen Bailey plays Lila Mozelle, the seductive, coin-collecting prostitute who saves the day in more than one way. She finally reveals the story behind Finley´s famous song, but not everything she tells is welcome news.

Martin Papazian is irresistible as the good-hearted, good-looking Danny. Who cares if he´s employed by a gangster? When he finally commits his heart (and maybe his words) to a woman the audience all but cheers. And that first kiss? Let´s just say the temperature in the theatre rose a few degrees.

Director Maria Gobetti´s casting insight deserves high praise. You simply can´t imagine another actor in each role. Working with Wegrzyn´s excellent, multi-layered script, she brings all the action, dialogue, and emotions into harmony, so that the audience leaves satisfied and optimistic – a rare experience in theatre today.

"Ten Cent Night" is a play you´ll want to see more than once, to re-enjoy how all the threads of the story – a different color and texture for each character – weave together so perfectly. It´s a nugget of gold, waiting to be discovered.

WHEN: Friday & Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 4pm through August 2

WHERE: The Victory Theatre Center, located at 3326 W. Victory Blvd, Burbank, CA 91505

TICKETS: General admission is $22, preferred seating $34. For information and reservations call (818) 841-5421 or visit www.thevictorytheatrecenter.org

A word of caution: explicit language, prostitution, abortion and incest are either discussed or portrayed.