| . | 12/01/2009
Under the Gaslight
By: Victor Gluck
Brad Fraizer as Snorkey and J.M. Donough as Byke in a scene from Under the Gaslight
(Photo credit: Aric Gutnick)
In the 1867 Under the Gaslight, Augustin Daly may not have invented American melodrama, but he certainly created the most famous of the sensation thrillers with the scene of a one-armed man tied to the railroad tracks before an onrushing train. As part of its 18th season called “Starting Over,” Metropolitan Playhouse, which specializes in plays of the American legacy, has revived this classic melodrama, seen for the first time in New York in 23 years. Michael Hardart’s sturdy production demonstrates that this form of theater with its thrills and chills and rollercoaster ride of pathos is great fun.
Under the Gaslight is a sort of upstairs, downstairs, showing post-Civil War New York society at its highest and lowest. It is a veritable tour of New York from a high society salon to a basement tenement, from the Tombs police court to a ball at Delmonico’s, from an upper class seaside resort to a decaying pier on the Hudson River. The play also is an indictment of the way Civil War veterans were treated by the government and how the poor of New York were scorned and demeaned by those above them. With the current recession, the play has some ironic resonances in our own time when economic reverses have hit even the most well off.
A precursor of the “perils of Pauline” type story, the play follows a year in the life of heroine Laura Courtland, taking her from the top of the heap to the bottom and back again. Darling of New York society, Laura is engaged to marry socially prominent Ray Trafford. On the eve of her wedding, a blackmailer sends a letter which reveals that Laura was a street urchin taken in by the Courtlands when she was six and brought up as a member of the family. When the story is spread at a ball at Delmonico’s, all of society cut Laura, without her fiancé having the courage to come to her defense. Laura runs away to live on her own and earn her living by coloring photographs.
Unfortunately, the blackmailer Byke, a thorough villain, and his accomplice Old Judas, a woman of equally shady reputation, want to kidnap her, and she is in continual jeopardy. With her loyal suitor Trafford and Snorkey, a Civil War veteran now a messenger, hot on the trail, Laura’s perils take her all over the New York area until a happy ending resolves her difficulties. Throughout her ordeal, Laura remains a plucky, self-sufficient young lady who is able to deal with people from all walks of life.
Hardart has taken a realistic approach to this melodramatic material and applied a leisurely pace. Due to Christopher Weston’s rather undistinguished lighting design, the scene of the onrushing train is less scary than the other ordeals (an attempted drowning, an attempted drugging, etc.) Some of the acting choices work better than others. Amanda Jones, previously seen as the upper-crust heroine of the Metropolitan Playhouse’s revival of The Contrast, plays the socially prominent Laura. Her charm is undeniable but her bland, unemotional passivity in the face of all perils seems a bit misplaced. As her loyal fiancé, Justin Flagg is also more timid and less swashbuckling than his frenzied and continued search implies.
As the black-hearted villain, J. M. McDonough is all the more believable for not twirling a moustache or cackling under his breath, but sports a permanent frown and a clouded forehead. His motive being greed, he plays his nefarious tricks to the hilt. Maria Deasy as his accomplice known as Old Judas seems a bit too young for the role, but is much more effective as the arrogant and haughty Mrs. Van Dam.
Brad Frazier plays the veteran soldier Snorkey much the way he played the servant Jonathan in The Contrast. However, here he gets a good deal of humor out of Snorkey’s assertions and vows of heroics and derring-do. As Laura’s voluble and flirtatious cousin Pearl, Sarah Hankins is most amusing as is Lian-Marie Holmes as the street urchin Peachblossom who is eternally swearing devotion to Laura in her new life in the underclass. Richard Cottrell demonstrates versatility in a series of roles including a butler, a justice of the peace, and a train signalman.
A fine, inspired touch is to have Ralph Petrarca play silent-movie music throughout the evening at an upright piano center stage. He also gives the performers his complete attention as though he has no idea how the story will come out. The minimal set design by Alex Roe is the perfect backdrop for Sidney Fortner’s elaborate and colorful period costumes.
Augustin Daly’s Under the Gaslight, subtitled “A Drama of Love and Life in These Times,” continues to entertain even though it is 142 years old. Played in a realistic style, the Metropolitan Playhouse production reminds us how much Hollywood films and television soap operas owe to the early American stage melodramas. The tale of Laura Courtland’s precipitous fall from social prominence seems relevant all over again in these economic hard times.
Under the Gaslight (through December 19)
Metropolitan Playhouse, 220 E. 4th Street, in Manhattan
For tickets, call 212-995-5302 or http://www.metropolitanplayhouse.org
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