Romeo & Bernadette: Run and Catch Those Big Laughs Right Now!

By Michael Barbieri***Hard day?  Fuggeddaboutit!!  Come to the theatre and behold how Romeo and Juliet meets Married to the Mob with a 1960s vibe, delightful songs and big laughs!

In Mark Saltzman’s Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona & Brooklyn, we’re treated to an inventive, tuneful continuation of Shakespeare’s classic romance.  With an amusingly convoluted plot and clever songs adapted from classic Italian melodies, this enchanting show sweeps the audience along on a playful ride.  We learn that there’s more to the story of Romeo and Juliet beyond the lovers’ tragic end.  Romeo, it seems, has not actually died, but rouses from his poison-induced slumber 500 years later, to find himself in Verona of the 1960s.  He spies Bernadette, a young girl traveling with her family, mistakes her for his beloved Juliet and follows her to Brooklyn, U.S.A.

Once there, our Romeo finds himself poised, once again, between warring factions—the Penzas and the Del Cantos, two rival mob families.  Bernadette is the daughter of mob boss Sal Penza and engaged to hot-headed mobster-in-training, Tito Titone.  Romeo is befriended by the opposing famiglia: young Dino Del Canto and his father Don Del Canto, who make him one of their own, teach him how to be more “Brooklyn” and aid in his pursuit of beautiful, foul-mouthed mob princess Bernadette.

One of the most remarkable aspects of Romeo & Bernadette is the cast—a group of super-talented actors who really make the show soar!  And every member of the cast brings something wonderful to the production.  As Romeo, Nikita Burshteyn is hilariously out of place and innocent, with the face and voice of an angel.  Bernadette, as played by Anna Kostakis, can curse up a storm, yet displays a vulnerability that makes her extremely appealing. Both Carlos Lopez and Michael Marotta, as the patriarchs of the Penzas and Del Cantos respectively, are excellent as noble tough guys who deep down love their families above all.  Judy McLane’s Camille Penza is given to overly-romantic flights of fancy, which are alternately soft and lovely or brash and hilarious.  Michael Notardonato plays Dino Del Canto as a slick but lovable, sex-obsessed goombah, while his evil counterpart, Tito, played by Zach Schanne is just the kind of bad boy you’d expect a mob princess would be involved with. Viet Vo, as the Penza’s bodyguard, Lips, has a gorgeous voice and a flair for deadpan comedy.  Also, I’m sure it’s no coincidence that with his black-on-black suit and black hat, he bears a passing resemblance to Oddjob, from the James Bond film Goldfinger.  Bernadette’s best friend Donna Dubachek , played by Ari Raskin, is the perfect wisecracking, streetwise foil to the heroine, yet she displays her beautiful vocal talents in several numbers, particularly in the second act.  Finally, the true workhorse of the show is Troy Valjean Rucker, who plays no less than seven roles, including the Florist of Arden (a subtle Shakespearean pun that made me laugh out loud), a female dance teacher modeled after Martha Graham, and Roz, a bridal shop owner—all of them hilarious!

Saltzman’s book is clever and funny, never letting the action lag for a moment.  His script is full of enough “YOs,” “Un-buh-LEEV-ables” and of course “fuggetaboutits” to make even the most hardcore Brooklynite laugh. I should know—I was sitting with two of them!  The score was catchy, smart and enjoyable, pushing the narrative from scene to scene perfectly.  The lyrics are fresh and funny, garnering plenty of joyful reactions from the audience.  The superb musical arrangements from the four-person orchestra included cha-cha and bossa nova rhythms that grounded the show in the 1960s, along with the sounds of mandolins, dulcimers and a concertina, which gave the music what we Americans have come to think of as an authentic Italian feel. Additionally, the songs had a homey familiarity—not just because of the Italian tunes on which they were based, but also due to a few modern touches and homages to a few famous musicals. I personally picked up on a few references to West Side Story. There was even little hint of A Chorus Line dropped into one of the numbers, a show in which director Justin Ross Cohen starred on Broadway!

With fluid, energetic direction by Cohen, Romeo & Bernadette moved along at a brisk pace, slowing down only for a few well-placed romantic moments.

Staged on a series of stark white risers and pipe scaffolds, the simple but effective set managed to suggest a wide variety of locales, using streamers, party lanterns, a bridal bower, a few flowerpots here and there and other assorted props.  The lighting, by the legendary Ken Billington, suggested, among other things, moonlit balconies and Brooklyn at twilight, transporting us there effortlessly.

Romeo & Bernadette is a great time!  It’s a show that deserves a bigger budget, a more fleshed-out production and hopefully a transfer to a larger theater.  I do hope the show’s producers are able to snag the right backers to provide them with the funding to expand.  Until then, I say, most emphatically, “YO!  Get thee hence to the Mezzanine Theatre and see Romeo & Bernadette!”

Romeo & Bernadette plays now through Sunday, February 16th at A.R.T.  New York’s Mezzanine Theatre (502 West 53rd Street).  For information, go to www.amasmusical.org/romeo-bernadette.