Then there are the references to the song The Girl From Ipanema. The original lyrics weren’t about a girl, and a Jew from Brooklyn who now lives in Santa Barbara wrote the famous English lyrics. There is also nothing new about going to a country and learning to dance; Zorba did it much better. OK, some of these things could be fixed with improved dialogue, but as it stands it’s a bit of a mess.
None of this is the performers' fault. JoBeth Williams is very good as the distraught mother; I only wish she had been given a better script. Monette Magrath is suitably stern as the sister, and poor Tyler Pierce, who must rush around changing clothes so he can play both brothers, is fine in both roles. Sybyl Walker turns in another of her energetic and mesmerizing performances as Bia, a girl from Rio who goes to Boston to get an education as a doctor. Armando McClain and Maceo Oliver round out the cast.
The Night Is A Child plays at the Pasadena Playhouse until October 4th.
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