Entertainment

By Mary Therese Biebel mbiebel@timesleader.com
Features Writer
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The guys who sell real estate in David Mamet’s play “Glengarry Glen Ross” aren’t exactly a group of Boy Scouts.

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Members of the Bracken Theatre Company — Greg Korin, Paul Winarski and Sid Michaels — rehearse a scene from ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ at the Phoenix Performing Arts Center in Duryea.

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Wyoming Valley West thespians David M. Vest, Jon Yuscavage, Jesse McNatt and Stefanie Sakosky rehearse a scene from ‘Cry of the Banshee,’ which opens Thursday at the Plymouth high school.

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“I have to admit, a lot of the characters are pretty despicable,” said Dawn Winarski, who is directing the show for Bracken Theatre at the Phoenix Performing Arts Center in Duryea this weekend and next. “But despite all the scratching and clawing they have to do, you have to feel a little bit bad for them.

“If they don’t make those sales, they’re out on their butt.”

While some members of the sales crew are desperate enough to turn to crime, the script shows they’re not necessarily motivated by greed.

“Greg Korin plays one guy, Shelly, who has a daughter who has been denied medical treatment. This could be his last chance to help her. The audience will definitely identify. What would they do if they were in that situation, if they needed the money for a family member who was ill?”

Winarski recommends the production for mature audiences. “There’s quite a lot of raw language, but there’s a purpose to it,” she said. “David Mamet has a particular style and rhythm to his work. There’s such a flow to the patter of the salesmen. This shows how Chicago real-estate agents talked.”

Mamet wrote the play in the 1980s, and Winarski has stayed true to that time frame, partly because “If you tried to modernize it, the audience would wonder, why don’t they have cell phones?”

Aided by an all-male cast, Winarski said, “The play has a lot of intensity. It’s very dog-eat-dog.”

“Glengarry Glen Ross” runs tonight through Nov. 15 at the Phoenix Performing Arts Center in Duryea. For tickets, call 457-3589.

On a cheerier note, you might want to be adopted by the Sycamore family in “You Can’t Take It With You.”

The uproarious comedy, staged by Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre this weekend and next, highlights a clan whose members do whatever they darned well please.

The mother’s been crafting a play ever since a typewriter (this was set in the 1930s, mind you) arrived at the house by accident.

A deliveryman who stopped by several years earlier couldn’t bear to leave so he’s hanging around to help Dad experiment with dynamite.

Grandpa refuses to pay income tax, a ballerina wannabe floats around the house, and, director Christa Manning points out, “Her dance instructor always manages to show up in time for dinner.”

The most conventional Sycamore is young Alice, who falls in love with her wealthy boss and invites him and his parents over for dinner. Her family fully intends to be on its best behavior for this event, but – wouldn’t you know it? -- the wealthy Kirbys arrive on the wrong day.

Maybe you can guess the rest, and maybe you’ll embrace the Sycamore family credo as your own.

“Grandpa’s philosophy is to do what makes you happy,” Manning said. “He feels it would solve the problems of the world if everyone did that.”

The Pulitzer Prize-winning show opens Saturday and continues through Nov. 16 at the Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre. For tickets call 823-1875.

Halloween may be over, but cool, dark evenings are still in season. If you’d like to enhance the eeriness, you might want to take in “Cry of the Banshee” at Wyoming Valley West High School in Plymouth.

The thriller is based on an old Irish legend that whenever you hear a banshee scream, someone dies, director Jim Parks said.

Two girls take turns lending their vocal talents to the title role, Parks said, and he’s told them to concentrate on “a high-pitched wail.”

Despite its spooky aspects, the director said, the show is so family-friendly, even 5- and 6-year-olds can enjoy watching their older siblings.

Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Nov. 15 at the high school. Call 779-4399 for tickets.

Finally, if you’re a fan of the 1982 movie “Pink Floyd The Wall,” you’ll likely appreciate the stage version, complete with live music, set for this weekend in Hazleton.

“My husband is in his 40s, and he grew up with this music,” said Joelle Witner, who is co-directing the show with her husband, Stephen. “But that’s not the only target audience. I’ve seen 16-year-olds wearing AC/DC and Led Zeppelin T-shirts. Thanks to Rock Band and Guitar Hero (video games), a younger generation knows about classic rock.”

The storyline tells of a character, “a washed-up rock star” named Pink whose father died during World War II when he was a baby. “His mother kind of protected him so much that he didn’t have to speak for himself or express himself,” Joelle Witner said. “As he grew up, all his teachers and other people helped build this wall for him, and it sends him over the edge into insanity. He has to break through.

The movie is quite graphic, Witner said, but the stage version is much less so.

“Pink Floyd The Wall” will be presented at 7 tonight through Sunday night at the Backstage Production Ensemble, 161 N. Laurel St., Hazleton. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. For reservations call 578-9205.