Professional step for Pines theater
Now in its 26th season, the Pembroke Pines Theater of the Performing Arts – PPTOPA to its devoted audience – is undergoing a change with the opening of its current show, Aaron Sorkin’s “A Few Good Men.”
A community theater long known for its highquality productions, PPTOPA has now become a professional company, paying its actors, directors and designers for their work, transitioning much as the Main Street Players in Miami Lakes did a few seasons ago.
Performing in the Susan B. Katz Theater at the River of Grass ArtsPark in Pembroke Pines, PPTOPA is launching its new era with a piece that is likely better known to theatergoers for its 1992 movie version, which starred Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson. Bowing on Broadway in 1989, the military courtroom drama was the first big stage hit for Sorkin, who would go on to a hugely successful career in television (as creator of “The West Wing” and other series) and movies (he won an Oscar for his “The Social Network” screenplay).
Inspired by a real incident at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, “A Few Good Men” details the aftermath of a “Code Red” punishment in which a Marine died after being hazed by two others.
PFC Santiago (Aaron Bravo), a washout as a Marine, had asked repeatedly to be transferred from the base, finally offering to give up the name of a fellow soldier who had fired illegally into Cuban territory in exchange for the transfer.
Lance Cpl. Harold W. Dawson (Devin Riley) and PFC Louden Downey (Matthew Salas) grabbed and hogtied Santiago, forcing a rag into his mouth and shaving his head. But after Santiago is found dead, the men are charged with his murder.
Some of the story is told in flashback, but at the heart of “A Few Good Men” are a mystery and a courtroom drama.
Charged with defending Dawson is Lt. j.g. Daniel Kaffee (Lito Becerra), who’s barely engaged in what he does for a living and who specializes in plea deals. His friend and fellow lawyer Lt. j.g. Sam Weinberg (Alexander Marante) takes the case more seriously, but the defense really amps up when the Washington-based Capt. Isaac Whitaker (Christopher Dreeson) sends Lt. Cmdr. Joanne Galloway (Constance Moreau) to Guantanamo to investigate.
She and Kaffee clash but soon begin to work together, learning that Capt. Matthew Markinson (Michael Vadnal), Lt. Jonathan James Kendrick (Peter Kareotes) and, above all, Lt. Col. Nathan Jessep (Skye Whitcomb) played key roles in deciding whether to transfer Santiago or order a Code Red. When Lt. Jack Ross (John Henry Parks) offers a plea deal that Dawson and Downey reject, a trial before Capt. Julius Alexander Randolph (Alvin Entin) is on.
Directed by Jeffrey Bruce in a crisp, literally straightforward manner, the production sometimes struggles with smooth changes of its multi-location set, which was designed by John Erickson Blessed and Mark Palazzo, though music aimed at creating a feeling of suspense fills the blackouts.
Costume designer Jerry Sturdefant supplies an array of uniforms for the 15-actor cast. Lighting designer Michael Graham brings the focus in tight on the doomed Santiago as the Marine pitches a transfer one last desperate time. Sound operator Sara Evans effectively threads the music in and makes sure the actors, who wear very obvious mics, are easily heard.
In terms of performance, two actors stand out: the wiry Becerra, who infuses Kaffee with the right amount of goofiness initially, making the character’s growth believably transformative; and Whitcomb, who makes Jessep every inch the bully (and sexist) that he’s meant to be. And when he hurls that famous line at Kaffee – “you can’t handle the truth!” – he does it with such thundering conviction that you want to tell the slight Becerra to head for the hills.
For PPTOPA, “A Few Good Men” is a first professional step. The wry OffBroadway musical “Urinetown” is coming up in the spring, offering a different set of challenges and a further test of the company’s ambitions.
“A Few Good Men” is a Pembroke Pines Theatre of the Performing Arts production running through Jan. 26 the Susan B. Katz Theater of the Performing Arts at the River of Grass ArtsPark, 17195 Sheridan St. Show times are 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. For tickets, call 954-437-4884 or go to www.pptopa.com