"Between Riverside and Crazy" at Park Square Theatre

Park Square Theatre was planning to produce the 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Between Riverside and Crazy in 2023, shortly after its Broadway premiere, when they ran into financial issues and had to cancel half of that season and all of the next one. But they came back last summer with a new Artistic Director, Stephen DiMenna, who has long been trying to stage this play (read more about that journey here). It has finally arrived as the final show in Park Square's excellent comeback season, and it was worth the wait. The well-written family dramedy that deals with gentrification, racism, drug addiction, and policing has been perfectly cast with #TCTheater favorites and newcomers, on an incredibly detailed and lived-in NYC apartment set. Between Riverside and Crazy plays Thursdays through Sundays until June 8 in the Historic Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul.

The entire play takes place in the Riverside Drive apartment of retired cop Walter, whom most people call Pops or Dad. Including his son Junior, who may or may not be selling stolen goods, Junior's girlfriend Lulu, who may or may not be a prostitute, and recovering drug addict Oswaldo, all of whom live in the apartment with Walter. Walter has lived in his rent-controlled apartment for decades and only pays $1500 a month, but the landlords could get ten times that if he left. Which he may be forced to do, unless he settles a lawsuit with the NYPD that he filed eight years ago when he was shot by another cop. His former partner Audrey and her fiancé Lieutenant Caro come over for a friendly dinner, which turns not so friendly when they try to convince him to settle. A lot of harsh words are said between friends, but Walter eventually decides to make a deal due to other events that happen, but not without getting what he thinks he deserves.

the fun family dinner before things get tense (Isabella Dunsieth,
Darius Dotch, Terry Hempleman, Laura Esping, and Emil Herrera)
(photo by Dan Norman)

The playwright has written some very specific characters that feel like real, flawed humans. Stephen DiMenna directs the play in a naturalistic way, and the terrific seven-person cast perform in such a way that it feels like we're just eavesdropping on their very real and messy lives. Emil Herrera has a long list of #TCTheater credits but I don't think I've ever seen him on stage, and it's a pleasure to witness his portrayal of the loveable grump Walter. He is the center and the heart of this piece, and he carries it well. He's surrounded by a top-notch cast that includes Darius Dotch as Junior, Isabella Dunsieth as the charming and confident Lulu, José Sabillón as the sweet and earnest Oswaldo, #TCTheater veterans Laura Esping and Terry Hempleman with strong performances as Walter's fellow cops, and Kiko Laureano in the small but pivotal role of a visiting "church lady."

All of the design elements contribute to the realistic feel of the play. There is so much detail in this set that it's impossible to take it all in. We see the living room on one side and kitchen/dining room on the other, with two levels of fire escapes. It very much looks like a home that someone has lived in for decades, with worn mismatched furniture, a decaying Christmas tree, and books and boxes and paper towel rolls and more stuffed into the sky-high shelves. Costumes help us immediately know who these characters are - Walter's plaid pajama pants and robe, Lulu's wardrobe of a little too tight and a little too short, the cops' more conservative clothing. Lamps and chandeliers light and dim as appropriate, and scene transitions are covered by a playlist of R&B classics from the last century that's so good I would love to have the soundtrack. (Set design by Benjamin Olsen, costume design by Matthew J. LeFebvre, lighting design by Marcus Dilliard, sound design by Fred Kennedy.)

Between Riverside and Crazy is a great conclusion to an excellent first season for Stephen DiMenna as Artistic Director of Park Square Theatre. They've just announced their line-up for next season, which will be their 50th, and it looks just as great: a classic Terrence McNally play, another collaboration with Steppingstone on a family musical, a new Jeffrey Hatcher mystery, and the quintessential musical about musicals - A Chorus Line. Downtown St. Paul is the place to be!