Opening Night at Bay Street Theater Dazzles With "The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey"

The Bay Street Theater stage sparkled with their opening night performance of The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, a one-act, 70-minute play based on James Lecesne’s 2008 young adult novel Absolute Brightness. This was a special Bonus Production in honor of the 25th Anniversary Mainstage Season.

Like Chazz Palminteri’s, A Bronx Tale, this dramedy is a one-man show, written and performed by the playwright himself. I predict (yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m a psychic, but this predictions comes from the playwright and theatre major in me, not the psychic) that this play could go the same route of Palminteri’s ever-evolving creation. A Bronx Tale has been around for more than a quarter century, and has since morphed into a movie (directed by and featuring Robert De Niro), and more recently, it’s been transformed into the Broadway bound A Bronx Tale: The Musical. Yes, Lescesne’s work can, most definitely, see this same kind of transformation over the next few decades. With any luck at all, I might still be around to see this happen.

Palminteri views his work as a morality tale, and The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, which deals with good versus evil, fits into this category as well.

Although Leonard Pelkey never appears in the play, his presence is felt everywhere. This is reminiscent of Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie, where Tom Wingfield, as the narrator of the play, reveals how his father is distinguished by his absence, “There is a fifth character in the play who doesn’t appear except in this larger-than-life-size photograph over the mantel.”

Chuck DeSantis, a detective, who, in his words, works in, “… some godforsaken precinct down the Jersey Shore,” is the main narrator in The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey. In the novel, from which the play is based, Leonard’s teenage cousin-of-sorts, Phoebe, narrated the tale, but in the theatrical version, she’s been relegated to a much smaller role, although it’s still a pivotal one.

This play revolves around the tragic story of Leonard Pelkey, a flamboyant, gay, 14-year-old orphan and newcomer to the town of Neptune. After his mysterious disappearance, a miraculous renewed sense of humanity appears surfacing in anyone and everyone blessed to have ever encountered Leonard, from Otto, the clock and watch repairman, who feels totally out of sync in a world of digital timekeeping, to the women of a certain age, who were feeling invisible, until they learned to update their look and to have, at all times, a little black dress handy, simply because Leonard lovingly instructed them to do so.

Master storyteller and writer, James Lecesne (the writer of the Academy Award-Winning film Trevor), under the apt direction of Tony Speciale, is fascinating as he portrays an array of characters, including a troubled teenage girl, her rough-around-the-edges, hot to trot, good-hearted mother, a jaded New Jersey detective, and a British owner of a local dance-and-drama school. These diverse and often times very funny characters each add a piece to the puzzle that helps unravel the mystery and magic surrounding Leonard Pelkey, a boy, who was coming of age and infused with the power of positivity. Sadly, his light and message were only appreciated after he was gone.

The original music is by Duncan Sheik and the show is produced by special arrangement with Darren Bagert and Daryl Roth.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the evening for me was meeting James Lecesne at the after party, having him sign his novel, and take a picture with me. He was a gracious and kind man as he greeted his many fans who had earlier honored him with a standing ovation at the end of his outstanding performance.

In a world full of darkness, where evil exists, and, yet, countless numbers of people do nothing about it; I would say, we all could use a little Leonard Pelkey to light the way.

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey is theater at it’s best: engaging, entertaining, and enlightening.

This play is only running until July 24, so be sure to catch it. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to their web site: www.baystreet.org or call the Box Office at 631-725-9500, Tuesday-Saturday 11am to 5pm.

(Photo of Cindi Sansone-Braff and James Lecesne by TJ Clemente.)

Cindi Sansone-Braff, the Romance Whisperer, talks with the dead to show you how to live well and love better. She is an award-winning playwright and has a BFA in theatre from the University of Connecticut. She is the author of Grant Me a Higher Love and Why Good People Can’t Leave Bad Relationships. Visit her web site at: http://www.grantmeahigherlove.com.