As the final production in its current season, Milwaukee’s In Tandem Theater revives a popular show from its past. Apartment 3A, written by noted film actor Jeff Daniels (“Purple Rose of Cairo,” “Dumb and Dumber”), was first produced by In Tandem eleven years ago. Its conversations about sex, religion and relationships haven’t changed all that much since 1996, when the play was written. However, a number of long, dry sections of dialogue drag down what otherwise would have been a light comedy.
Apartment 3A ran Off-Broadway in 2008, and it has been produced by numerous regional theaters since then. In a review published in The New York Times in 2008, a reviewer noted that the play recalls early works by Neil Simon.
That may be so, but the overall structure of 3A is more predictable and less interesting than the Simon play it most resembles, The Goodbye Girl. Both plays revolve around neurotic females who wind up in one bad romantic relationship after another. Even when “Mr. Right” appears, the women are too afraid to pursue their feelings in order to prevent more emotional pain. But all ends well, as the women finally wake up to the fact that the perfect man is right under their noses.
At the start of Apartment 3A , Annie Wilson impulsively agrees to rent an apartment on the seedy side of an unnamed Midwestern town. The apartment, newly painted but completely bare except for a table, set of chairs and one dresser, is not much to look at. Annie doesn’t bother to redecorate, leaving the space looking as lonely as its occupant. It reflects the colorless life Annie feels as the result of her recent break-up.
Annie is a mid-level manager at a local PBS station, and she becomes emotionally unraveled during a pledge drive. Her on-air speech interrupts a broadcast of “Sesame Street.” Annie warns the kiddies that if their parents don’t call in a pledge, the future existence of Big Bird is doubtful. Afterwards, in a humorous exchange with her unseen boss, she tells him, “I never said, ‘kill the bird.’”
Elliott, a member of Annie’s staff, tries to save Annie’s job at the possible expense of his own. Although he is obviously in love with Annie, she writes him off as a romantic non-contender. However, Donald, a nosy next-door neighbor, tells Annie not to write off Elliott too fast. Donald is a trim, handsome man. One might wonder why Annie doesn’t make a pass at him, except that Donald insists he is happily married to a securities broker who travels frequently on business. Donald, who is suspiciously dressed in the same dark suit every time he appears at Annie’s doorstep, seems sincere in his desire to establish a platonic friendship with Annie.
As Annie, Tiffany Vance is perhaps more harsh, moody and angry than necessary. It’s true that her character “tries too hard in a world that doesn’t give a shit,” but Vance pushes this to the limit. She’d earn more sympathy by pulling back a bit. She does a good job with the more comic material in the play – particularly in the second act, during a sequence in which she discusses a recent sexual experience with the now-hopeful Elliott.
Doug Jarecki (as Elliott) comes closest to realizing his character’s potential. He plays an ordinary guy who always comes up short. Jarecki, displaying a small bald spot and a pudgy middle, does indeed represent the kind of guy that many women would overlook. A lesson to us all, perhaps?
The mysterious Donald is nicely handled by Simon Jon Provan. Soft-spoken and polite, he evokes Donald’s caring, non-threatening aspects. Adding some spice is Gene Schuldt in a minor role as an apartment supervisor. Jane Flieller directs the production.
Although some of the dialogue about sex and religion runs on too long, another aspect of this play can’t be overlooked: Annie’s constant forgetfulness about locking her front door. As a savvy professional woman in an urban environment, it’s unlikely that she would make this mistake more than once. The playwright uses this device repeatedly, but it just fails to make common sense.
