Paddy Chayefsky was a premier name in live dramas during the Golden Age of Television with "kitchen sink" stories told in urban, colloquial language about everyday New Yorkers. Some became films – “Marty,” “The Bachelor Party,” “The Catered Affair” and “Middle of the Night” and, in the 1970's, turning more satirical, Chayefsky wrote “Network” and “The Hospital.” Middle of the Night and The Tenth Man were also successful Broadway plays, and A Catered Affair became a Broadway musical. What made Paddy Chayefsky so popular?
His dramas have an accessible Chayefsky flavor, a "slice of life" signature of naturalism. He found the lonely core in hard-working folks and empathized with their struggles that often came from generational, religious or economic gaps, problems as simple as planning a wedding or deciding what to do with another empty Saturday night. These were ordinary dilemmas familiar to viewers. They still are.
An example of Chayefsky's common touch is Middle of the Night, now at the Clurman Theater. Directed by Jonathan Silverstein, Keen Company is producing the first revival since the successful 1956 run starring Gena Rowlands and Edward G. Robinson. Playing the 53-year-old widower is Jonathan Hadary as Jerry Kingsley, owner of a successful clothing factory in New York's garment district. Living with his sister and feeling he's in a rut, he believes this is a midlife crisis, a stereotype to be sure, yet his loneliness lingers. He misses female companionship, the excitement of romance, facing the future instead of unwinding into the past. Jerry is a nice, ordinary guy who is not ready to give up life. He finds the spark with his 23-year-old office clerk, Betty. Portrayed by young, pretty Nicole Lowrence, Betty is immature, emotional and needy. She just filed for divorce from George, her self-absorbed musician husband (Todd Bartels), realizing that she needs more than wild sex from a relationship. Returning to her mother's cramped apartment, she is frightened of the future, of being alone, of making decisions. In their first conversation, Betty is grateful for the attention Jerry gives her, and he is besotted by her youthful neediness. They come to realize they can fulfill each other's needs, but when they discuss marriage, their families are outraged and pull out all stops to halt this disastrous mistake. Besides the 30-year age gap, Jerry is Jewish; Betty is a gentile. They also waver with indecision, yet with their strong mutual attraction, they are determined to fight off all deterrents.
Hadary's smart portrayal of Jerry is multi-layered as the driving rag-trade boss with a tender and thoughtful side for Betty. He wants to take care of her, at one point saying, "You make me think of (my daughter) when she was ten years old." Cheesy, but he means well. Lowrence is on the mark as the appreciative Betty, unveiling her potential for maturity that comes to fruition late in the play.
The play is fuller than the one-hour television version, yet there are empty spaces, especially in the quick-moving courtship from conversation to wedding plans. Director Jonathan Silverstein keeps all the balls in the air with the sizable cast, most taking double roles. Noteworthy is Amelia Campbell as Betty's is over-worked, straight-talking mother, disapproving of divorce, interfaith marriage, and the age gap. She doubles as an amusing Widow, who makes a passive-aggressive move on Jerry.
Evelyn, Jerry's sister (Denise Lute), moved into her brother's apartment when his wife died, and she took over the wife role. She is threatened by displacement by "this tramp" who, she decides, is after her brother's money. Lute also provides laughs as Betty's mother's busy-body neighbor. Jerry's hovering daughter, Lillian (Melissa Miller), ignores Jack, her own long-suffering husband. Miller's secondary role is as Betty's girlfriend, urging her friend not to marry an old man.
Todd Bartels scores as Betty's smarmy but charismatic husband, George and then turns around to portray the unassuming Jack, Jerry's son-in-law. Alyssa May Gold, Betty's kid sister, mostly observes the family drama.
Steve C. Kemp's stage design serves as Betty's family's tenement living room and the more affluent Kingsley living room. Neither room looks upscale or downscale enough to reflect the different lifestyles, although a chandelier descends for the Kingsley apartment and outside doors are repositioned. Effective is a scrim in back of the Kingsley apartment displaying the wintry weather.
Snow, wind, wet and cold are repeating themes emphasizing Jerry's current state of mind about age. Jennifer Paar's costumes serve the era realistically with full skirts, pumps and overcoats.
Some will find the story's finale idealized and others more skeptical, but through Hadary's and Lowrence's warm portrayals, Jerry and Betty are characters we have to cheer for. Though definitely of its era, Middle of the Night still tackles problems that never completely lose their essential universality and heart.
