Christine Dolen loves Lobby Hero

‘Lobby Hero’: Moral dilemmas, terrific acting
BY CHRISTINE DOLEN
cdolen@MiamiHerald.com


Photo by Howard Ferre
David Sirois plays a cop in the Alliance Theatre Lab's 'Lobby Hero' in Miami Lakes.

Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero was first staged in South Florida a decade ago when the play was still a hot ticket in New York. But as the new production by Alliance Theatre Lab so amply, delightfully proves, the script hasn’t aged one bit.
Under Adalberto Acevedo’s direction, the Alliance version at the Main Street Playhouse in Miami Lakes becomes a four-person acting showcase for its young cast, three New World School of the Arts grads and a fourth actor who graduated from Barry University. That the four have stuck around to begin their careers here is a lucky break for South Florida theater fans. Here’s hoping they don’t get the New York itch too soon.

Lonergan serves up a cascade of moral dilemmas in Lobby Hero. The play’s chatty “hero” is Jeff (Mark Della Ventura), an apartment building security guard working the graveyard shift after he was kicked out of the Navy for smoking pot. Jeff’s boss William (Mcley Lafrance) is a by-the-book, no-nonsense guy determined to better himself. He tries to get some of that drive and focus to rub off on Jeff, but Jeff lives in the realm of fantasy, entertaining an ever-changing list of “goals” that aren’t much more than momentary thoughts.

Two beat cops, the seasoned Bill (David Sirois) and his rookie partner Dawn (Anne Chamberlain), often stop by the building. Bill leaves Dawn parked in the lobby while he goes upstairs to visit a “friend” who turns out to be a hot single woman. Bad enough that Bill is married, but he has also been wooing Dawn. So does she cover for him, though she’s disgusted to learn the truth?

William has his own painful dilemma. His brother is one of three suspects in a robbery that turned into a rape and murder. The brother says he didn’t do it and wants William to supply his alibi. What does good, honest William do?

Della Ventura, who has given deft and engaging performances on a variety of South Florida stages, demonstrates the reach and depth of his talent in Lobby Hero. He is utterly convincing as the goofy, funny, warm-hearted guy who has been drifting through life. His Jeff is a man-child with a gift for getting himself in hot water every time he opens his mouth. And he talks a lot.

Lafrance lets us peek under William’s stern façade to see a caring, worried man. Sirois nails Bill, making him a charming slimeball determined to keep Dawn in his corner by seduction, threat or both. Chamberlain impressively travels an emotional path from naïvete to fury, seeking vengeance and asking forgiveness. She’s terrific. And so are the costars who shine so brightly in Lobby Hero.