Review: Boca Stage’s ‘Wait Until Dark’ is a bright start for new season & home
Boca Stage smoothly navigates the psychological thriller’s nuances in its suspenseful production of “Wait Until Dark,” which launches its 2023-2024 season and marks its debut at its new home in the Delray Beach Playhouse.
Director Keith Garsson has assembled a solid cast, each of whom mines the tension that constantly bubbles up in “Wait Until Dark.” Garsson deftly keeps the crime drama’s action briskly moving as his cast makes the plot believable.
“Wait Until Dark,” showing through Nov. 5, revolves around Susan Hendrix, who is learning to maneuver New York City — and her life — after losing her sight in a car accident. Her efforts, and challenges, are supported by her loving husband, Sam, a photographer. Left alone because Sam has been called to a bogus assignment, Susan is besieged by criminals looking for a doll that was sneaked into Sam’s briefcase in order to smuggle diamonds. How Susan — blind, scared and with only her wits — fends off these hardened criminals is the crux of the play.
The first act is a slow burn that gives way to heightened tension in the second act.
Rachel Whittington illustrates how Susan finds an inner strength while also discovering that her blindness heightens her other senses. Rachel’s Susan is at first gullible and a people-pleaser but soon learns that she has more skills and resolve than she’d thought.
Rio Chavarro portrays a conflicted character named Mike who unexpectedly drops in to visit Sam, weaving an elaborate tale about how Sam saved his life while they served in the Marines in Italy during the war. Chavarro, last seen in Boca Stage’s “Time Alone,” shows a Mike who is a glib storyteller yet who also, against his nature, finds a streak of morality as he grows to genuinely like Susan.
The always reliable Troy Stanley is scarily commanding as Carlino, who has dubious police credential.
Kudos to 13-year-old Ellie Rose, who brings depth to Gloria, the upstairs neighbor who’s paid to help Susan with minor errands and shopping. The young actress shows a pre-teen who is resentful of Susan and Sam’s happy relationship as she deals daily with an emotionally abusive mother who has a string of boyfriends. The Parkland resident is fresh off playing the title role in the musical “Annie” in the 2022-2023 Broadway National Tour.
“Wait Until Dark” marks the most welcomed return to the stage of Shane Tanner, who easily ratchets up the tension. His Roat — the most menacing of the criminals — is a chameleon as Tanner takes on several different personalities, each deliciously nasty.
Many may be familiar with the 1967 movie “Wait Until Dark” that was released a year after the thriller made its Broadway debut, starring Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. That film and the original play, written by Frederick Knott (“Dial M for Murder”), was set in the late 1960s.
Through the years, the play underwent revivals, including one in 1998 starring Marisa Tomei and Quentin Tarantino. It didn’t go well, lasting only 97 performances. It was also retooled in 2013 by playwright Jeffrey Hatcher, who moved the setting to 1944, the waning time of WWII. New York City was on the rise in 1944, while the late 1960s was a time of decline. But the time change barely affects the plot. Both eras relied on landline phones and phone booths. Sam’s military service could be applied to any war.
Boca Stage’s artistic team make the most of the 1944 era. Alberto Arroyo’s costumes are spot-on, especially Susan’s skirt length and sweater top, down to her shoes and nylon stockings. David Hart’s sound design captures the Manhattan cityscape and rain. Larry Oberman’s lighting design sets the mood, especially those times when the stage is plunged into darkness, referencing Susan’s vision. Cindi Blank Taylor designed a lovely, compact Greenwich Village basement apartment, a tidy space with vintage appliances and a couple of well-used stairs.
“Wait Until Dark” is Boca Stage’s inaugural production in its new space at the beautiful Delray Beach Playhouse, whose beginnings date back to 1947. Boca Stage productions will be in the playhouse’s Cabaret Theatre, which means the audience will sit at small tables instead of regular theater seats. Boca Stage is now able to seat 140 patrons, as opposed to its limit of 75 people at its former home at the Sol Theatre in Boca Raton. At the same time, the playhouse allows Boca Stage to continue its intimate feel.
“Wait Until Dark” gives Boca Stage a bright start at its new home.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Boca Stage presents “Wait Until Dark”
WHEN: Remaining performances are 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
WHERE: Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW Ninth St.
COST: $39-$69
INFORMATION: 561-272-1281; delraybeachplayhouse.com
A version of this review ran in floridatheateronstage.com.