The Good Doctor at Sullivan West heals with humor and pathos

By the time the Sullivan West Players got up and running this year in January, it was too late for the daunting task of a musical. In its place, directors Kevin Mann and Russ Johansen came on board and produced Neil Simon’s “The Good Doctor,” a tribute to Russian playwright Anton Chekhov in a series of vignettes that capture both the comic and serious side of 19th century Russian bourgeoisie.

The nine separate pieces, which were performed on March 24 and 25, held up a mirror to human nature with all of its foibles, and elicited both humor and pathos.

Good acting and fine staging created an engaging production. Narrated by John Taylor, Andrea Wagner, Kim Parks, Laura Berger, Randy Grimm, Nicole Daley, Victoria Harman and David Lundgren, the show moved seamlessly through its separate vignettes. “The Sneeze,” featured humorous interplay between sophomore Randy Grimm and senior stage veteran Craig Bryda. Its humor provided a foil to the subsequent staging of “The Governess,” starring Laura Berger and Sarah Nicoletti as the governess. Wagner alternated with Berger in the role of the aristocratic employer who seeks to imbue a sense of pride and empowerment into the all-too-passive governess.

Veronica Kearney and Diana Justice did a fine job in “Surgery,” making the audience wince at the prospect of a bungled tooth extraction, followed by a wistful “Too Late for Happiness,” with Wagner and Berger alternating opposite Zach Rettoun. Kim Eschenberg provided piano accompaniment for the piece.

The final first-half segment was “The Seduction,” featuring the alluring performances of Moselle DiPane alternating with Robin Crotty and the slick Grimm, who methodically enacted his art of seduction through the clueless husband, played by Rettoun.

The second act featured the hysterical “Drowned Girl,” with Laura Stabbert and Kelsey Hornicek, “Audition,” by Julia Berger and the voice of Mann, and the finale, “A Defenseless Creature,” enacted by a beleaguered Taylor who is assaulted by a relentless Katie Schroeder. Harmon and Nicole Daley lent great supporting efforts.

The show was enhanced by the student direction of Odino and the set production of Greg Bryan.