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Narrator key to tying ‘Twilight Zone’ together
By Eric McCrea
The Hopewell Theatre packed its spookily decorated house Friday night for the opening of “The Twilight Zone.”
Four classic episodes were performed by a large cast amassed by director Sam Luptak Jr. The one role that bound them all together was the Narrator, perfectly and succinctly played by Glenn Stevens.
The first episode was “Time Enough at Last” with Terry Shears as Henry Bemis, a man who loves to read. Unfortunately for Henry, his overbearing boss and domineering wife refuse to let him have any time to read.
Shears was great as the tortured bank teller, able to use the space and scenery to stretch limited dialogue into a longer, more involved story.
Denise Sculli was downright scary as Helen, Henry’s wife who incessantly belittles him for wanting to read all the time. The role is small and fairly two-dimensional, but Sculli made it unforgettable.
Episode two, “Changing of the Guard” finds Chris Fidram playing a dedicated professor, who has been forced to retire. Feeling dejected, he ponders his life’s work and finds himself to be a failure, but ghostly visitors of past students visit him to tell him otherwise.
Fidram’s performance was spectacular. He was touching and sympathetic with incredible attention paid to nuance.
After a brief commercial break, the show resumed with “One for the Angels,” directed by Ron Altomare. In this story, a popular salesman named Lew Bookman (Bob Gerdes) is unfortunately out of time. Jenna Cintavey plays a stranger who can only be seen by Lew. Lew quickly figures out that she is serious about taking him with her, but manages to bargain for more time.
Faced with no choice, this stranger decides she must take someone else, but this is unacceptable to Lew. He decides to face death in order to save a young girl.
Gerdes was a great pick for the role of Lew. He had a fast-talking charm and warm spirit that were integral in the believability of a likable salesman.
Cintavey was amazing as the stranger. She was strict and insistent, but willing to make a deal. She gave one of the funniest performances as well.
For the finale, “Monsters are Due on Maple Street,” a small neighborhood descends into paranoia after a power outage. When a little boy mentions that extraterrestrial visitors disguised among them could be the cause, neighbors begin throwing accusations around, and things quickly turn violent.
This episode, with one of the largest casts, was a bit too chaotic at times. The dialogue was fast and cues were timely, and some chaos was needed for the story, but it bordered on clumsy at a few points.
A few supporting roles were noteworthy, such as Rosemarie Martinez as Mrs. Landers, Hana Bender as Maggie, and Elainie Huncik as Sally.
Also worthy of mention, appearing in various roles and multiple episodes, were Josh Bodnar, Kevin Bender and Nathan Skaggs.
“The Twilight Zone” can be seen at The Hopewell Theatre at 7:30p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2:00 p.m. Sunday. For reservations, call 330-746-5455.