Meet the Jeromes — Brighton Beach Memoirs Comes to Theatre 82

I remember many years back, when my family was new to Rhode Island in the mid 1980s and myself, my brother and my parents slipped into the old Campus Theater in Wakefield on a rainy Sunday to catch a movie.

I forget the first film, and as the credits rolled, we looked around at each other and began to get ready to leave. But within moments, the lights dimmed once again and the screen lit up. 

Apparently, we missed the sign on our way in that advertised the special double matinee playing that afternoon. So we stayed in our seats and soon, the beginning of the 1986 film, Brighton Beach Memoirs, was upon us and we were eventually laughing and crying along with the on-screen Jerome family, who tried to make the most of hard times in New York during the Great Depression.

For us, the story hit home. We had moved from New Jersey just one year earlier. My parents arguably gave up a decent life there to stake a new claim in Rhode Island, my father walking away from his career on Wall Street to open a small business by the beach in Charlestown, my mother, who hadn't worked since my brother was born, vying for a real estate license to help put food on the table. 

Me, I was still a young boy who collected baseball cards, argued with my older brother and was overwhelmed by the complexities of being almost 9-years-old and knowing that first kisses, crushes and my voice cracking were on the horizon.

Maybe it was the seeming parallels to the Jerome family that made the film resonate, but there was something about Brighton Beach Memoirs that stuck with us for years to come. Sure, we were better off than a family dealing with the Great Depression, but as transplants still trying to get our feet under us in a strange new state, we were inspired by the story.

Little did I know that the cute film is actually an adaptation of Neil Simon's famous play, which ran on Broadway from 1983 to 1986 and was revived briefly in 2009. 

Set in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York in September 1937, this coming-of-age comedy focuses on Eugene Morris Jerome, a Polish-Jewish American teenager who experiences puberty, sexual awakening, and a search for identity as he tries to deal with his family. As our guide through his “memoirs,” Eugene takes us through a series of trenchant observations and insights that show his family meeting life’s challenge’s with pride, spirit, and a marvelous sense of humor.

And the cast of GCOLE Productions, which "seeks to bring contemporary work to Rhode Island as well as new musical and classical musical theatre," will be bringing this story to Cranston, starting tonight at 8 p.m. at Artists' Exchange's Theatre 82 in Rolfe Square.

Starring Joe DiMauro, Erin Archer, Rodger Shakra, Sandra Barrett, Henry Barcohana, Allie Meek and Amanda Beaton, the show will take the stage at Theatre 82 tonight (Nov. 15) and Nov. 22 and 23.

Tickets are on sale now and cost $15 in advance and $20 at the door. You can buy them online by following this link: https://www.vendini.com/ticket-software.html?t=tix&e=a8c2884a1dbbfdd4c93c19cd83f00346

Find out more information about Artists' Exchange here: http://www.artists-exchange.org/