Local artists grace the stage at Studio Arena Theater in Mitch Albom's "Tuesdays With Morrie." This touching, heart warming play is cast exclusively from Buffalo's talent.
Manny Fried, who plays Morrie Schwartz, has been a prominent presence on local stages for several years. Among many other plays, he has appeared in the Studio Arena productions of "Twelve Angry Men" and "Golf with Alan Shepherd." His performance in "Tuesdays with Morrie" left audience members in tears.
David Rzeszutek, who plays author Mitch Albom, is a graduate of Buffalo State College, where he earned his BA in theater. Rzeszutek has appeared at Studio Arena Theater in Tennessee Williams's "Up in Smoke." The assistant director, Scott Behrend, was the set designer for more than 25 productions at the Irish Classical Theater.
This heartfelt story is told in a two-man play with limited set changes and without an intermission. The play works well in the small theater atmosphere of Studio Arena. There isn't a bad seat in the house, which lends to the intimacy needed for this play. It is based on a true story and adapted from the bestselling book of the same name. Congressman Louise Slaughter, an avid supporter of the arts, sat in attendance on Friday night.
The story is of the lifelong relationship between a professor and his talented student. In 1979, Albom is an over-achieving student attending college who loves to play jazz on the piano. After he graduates college, he begins his career in journalism and forgets his love of music and his beloved professor, Schwartz.
He becomes a great success in his own eyes, a big-shot sports reporter who flies to Super Bowls and the Olympics. He has many material things, including a big house and many cars, but has no time for living life. He can't even find the time to get married. He has a quickie ceremony and promises his new wife a long honeymoon later.
Albom learns that Schwartz is sick with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, when he sees an interview his professor did on "Nightline" with Ted Koppel depicting his struggle with the illness. He flies out to Boston to visit his old teacher, and after sixteen years away, begins a series of weekly Tuesday visits that last until Schwartz's death. The visits turn out to be a life-affirming escape for Albom.
Schwartz ends up back in the teaching role he needs in order to feel alive. Schwartz attempts to make Albom understand that all that really matters in life is love. He repeatedly asks Albom if he is at peace with himself, knowing full well that he is not. Work and the pursuit of money have consumed his life.
One of the most touching parts of the play is Schwartz's longing for physical contact, "touchy feely stuff," as he puts it. Albom is not comfortable with it, prompting Schwartz to call acts of affection "extra credit."
The play opens and closes with a Japanese maple in center stage. In the end, the leaves have turned and Schwartz tells Albom that a tree shows it most brilliant colors just before it dies.
It was one of the best two-man plays since "Cookin' at the Cookery" and Buffalonians should be proud of their local talent. The standing ovation they received is a testament to that.
"Tuesdays With Morrie" runs through March 6.
