Not many lessons discuss what it is to die.
Friday night, the Niagara Regional Theatre Guild brought author Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie at the Ellicott Creek Playhouse to life in a staged play based onthe bestselling book.
Two actors alone led the seven-scene play. Doug Smith, 77, played the dying Schwartz, and M. Joseph Fratello, 28, assumed the role of Albom.
Like any book-turned-script, the pressure was on for the play to live up to the book's high standard. One of the biggest challenges was making a conversation between two people constantly engaging for the audience.
"[Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom] did a lot with making the dialogue very visual; it was very descriptive, and I think that [led] to the [book-to-play] transition," Fratello said.
The main character, sports columnist Mitch Albom, finds out a beloved professor from his past, Morrie Schwartz, is dying from Lou Gehrig's disease - a disease that causes the slow loss of muscular control. Albom ends up spending every Tuesday visiting his professor - whom he affectionately calls 'coach' - to learn about life and death.
Smith and Fratello's chemistry on stage was evident. Their performance was convincing and moving, as they transformed Schwartz and Albom's relationship from intimate to distant and finally intimate again.
The actors prepared their roles in 10 weeks.
"When we got hit by [Hurricane] Sandy, we were having some power and water issues in the building, just a little bit, but it was enough to slow us down that week for rehearsals," Fratello said.
The performance went on before a crowd of 30 inside the cozy theatre. Fratello thought the crowd was receptive to the play.
"I'd rather have a small audience who connects with us versus a packed house where I feel I'm acting to a brick wall," Fratello said.
Husband and wife David and Annette Gervase, both 56-year-old adjunct professors in UB's Graduate School of Education, were among those thrilled with the actors' performance.
"The genuine love that both of them had for each other [comes through in their acting]," Annette said.
Other audience members felt the play still had room for improvement, however. Senior theater major Colin Burgess thought the sound design could be better, as certain audio clips had a hissing quality to them. He claimed the lighting cues were also not as smooth as they could've been.
"Whenever they moved stuff between scenes, they would turn up the lights slightly so the people could see to move props," Burgess said. "But then they blacked out, so that was weird. It was almost like a scene within itself."
Nonetheless, the play offered valuable lessons. David had his own personal takeaway from the performance.
"Enjoy life, stop and smell the roses before life catches up with you, probably to appreciate the little things in life and do something you like to do," he said.
The last scene ended with the character Albom playing the piano and remembering his dear 'coach.'
As Albom reminisced, Smith reappeared on stage as Schwartz and danced in crooked awkward steps, the swing from his hips long gone but his face in a state of unmistakable content.
Tuesdays with Morrie will be playing at the Ellicott Creek Playhouse until Nov. 18.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
