23
May/15

DINNER WITH THE BOYS

23
May/15
Charlie (Dan Lauria), Big Anthony Jr. (Ray Abruzzo), and Dom (Richard Zavaglia) have a dinner to remember in the wilds of New Jersey (photo by Joan Marcus)

Charlie (Dan Lauria), Big Anthony Jr. (Ray Abruzzo), and Dom (Richard Zavaglia) have a dinner to remember in the wilds of New Jersey (photo by Joan Marcus)

The Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row
410 West 42nd St. between Ninth & Tenth Aves.
Tuesday – Sunday through July 5, $75
212-560-2183
dinnerwiththeboysplay.com
www.theatrerow.org

I’ve never met Dan Lauria, best known for his role as the grumpy, put-upon father in The Wonder Years, but I get the impression that he’s a heckuva nice fella, the kind of a guy you wouldn’t mind sitting down and having dinner with. Lauria does just that in Dinner with the Boys, a slight but sweet mob comedy that he has written and is starring in at the Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row. Lauria, who has appeared on Broadway in the title role of Lombardi, playing the legendary Green Bay Packers coach, and as narrator Jean Shepherd in A Christmas Story: The Musical (no, the big lug doesn’t do any singing or dancing in the holiday show), wrote Dinner with the Boys as a vehicle for his friends Dom DeLuise, Charles Durning, Peter Falk, and Jack Klugman, but with those four no longer with us, the show is now a three-actor, four-character piece, featuring Lauria, Richard Zavaglia (Donnie Brasco), and Ray Abruzzo (The Sopranos). In a very suburban kitchen and small connected garden in the wilds of New Jersey (the set is designed by Jessica Parks, complete with a painting of the Last Supper and a framed photograph of Frank Sinatra), Charlie (Lauria) and Dom (Zavaglia) are living almost like husband and wife, cast off there after a mob hit went wrong. (Their names are tributes to Durning and DeLuise, spelled De Louise on the poster outside the theater.) Waiting for mob boss Big Anthony Jr. (Abruzzo), they talk over old times and wonder what the future holds, arguing like Felix and Oscar in The Odd Couple as longtime mob cook Dom prepares a very special dish. When Big Anthony Jr. arrives, Charlie turns into a pathetic, scared little boy as the boss, an angry man with a short fuse and a violent temper, rages on about the state of things — and what his plans are for the two men, which doesn’t exactly make them happy. But they’re not about to just sit back and let themselves get whacked.

Dom and Charlie dream about their future in DINNER WITH THE BOYS (photo by Joan Marcus)

Dom and Charlie dream about their future in DINNER WITH THE BOYS (photo by Joan Marcus)

Originally presented by NJ Rep in Long Branch, Dinner with the Boys is an intimate little story that gets lost in the Acorn. While plenty of the silly jokes and slapstick moments fall flat — oh, that poor zucchini — plenty of clever, funny exchanges that deserve bigger laughs end up buried like Charlie’s former partner, Leo. While it’s fun watching the interplay between the lovable Lauria and the adorable Zavaglia, Abruzzo is a disaster; director Frank Megna (Leather Heart) should have whacked his bombastic, cringe-worthy overacting, as Abruzzo devours a whole lot more than just the scenery. (His character would actually fit a lot better in another current mob tale, the very loud A Queen for a Day, which features a trio of Sopranos veterans.) It’s too bad, because somewhere in Dinner with the Boys is a tasty play, but only morsels satisfy in its current incarnation. On Tuesday nights, VIP packages ($129) include a postshow dinner with the cast at Tony’s Di Napoli, while Wednesday matinees (“Nonna’s Day”) come with a bottle of the Original Jersey Italian Gravy ($45-$55 with the code TRNONNA).