Charming Morsel — Rialto Community Players' 'Aria's'

Rare indeed are productions of world-premiere, original plays in the Inland Empire. Most of the dozens of under-99 theaters 'round about those parts are content with the mounting the usual, played out commercial fluffiness year after year, with the dim hope of snagging some of the ever-dwindling playgoer demographic. (Not many culture lovin' hippies in them there hills.) 

Fortunately, there are a few maverick producers who open their houses to original, locally written plays during some of their many dark weekends. Sandra Courtney, and the Rialto Community Players, are among such rogues. The RCP'ers even upped the ante by including a premiere in their official, subscription season: Aria's, an often hilarious, lovely little rom-com by the Empire's own Robert Merrill, infused with an extra helping of delightfulness by director Christopher Diehl.

All the action's set in the main room of Aria's, a quaint, 20-seat Italian restaurant slash dive bar. The namesake eatery is the home and struggling livelihood of newly-widowed Marie (Lisa Shannon). "Just on the other side the of the tracks" in Anytown, New York, USA's historical downtown, everything is being razed in the name of progress, being rebuilt fancy shmancy with a "what's it called... rhymes with that stuff people put in their hair, pomade... oh yeah, 'promenade' — which is just fancy word for 'wide sidewalk.'" Such civic devolution is the bane of Marie's financial security, as it's stealing away her few remaining patrons, most of whom abandoned Aria's after husband Mike's (a never-disappointing Mike Truelock) untimely, humiliating death. Despite all suppositions, Marie's next true love actually does "come walkin' through the front door." It's Bill (Mark Sanfilippo), a mysterious milquetoast in town for "business," the truth of which is only obvious if you consider the antagonist. 

Our hole-in-the-wall is, of course, replete with a collection of quirky supporters. There's the German maî·tre d' (Scott Morrill, with a wildly erratic accent), a hold out from when the space was a Deutsch pub; Marie's sympathetic Italian-rantin' sister-in-law, Rose (a funny-like-Betty-White Deborah McFatter); Jake, Marie's in-from-outta-town, cruise ship crooner sister, played with effortless naturalism by Kerry Jones; the licentious and shady real estate developer, Stan (an over-the-top Fonziesque Rowan Harris); and the bullied for his Dad's "secret" Little Mike [Jr.], played by Jackson Capitano.

While Aria's is certainly entertaining, a few changes to the book should be in order before it gets submitted to publishers. For instance, Act II runs long, or at least in feels that way, as we endure scenes of Bill plunging into the local, rancid dating pool. Albeit funny, the stage time would've been better spent developing the heavy's subplot or by watching the leads' romance simmer to perfection.

Good one-piece set design and intricate dressing, by Jones, captured the charm of the endangered species of a Mom & Pop pasta shop and of Merrill's heartfelt text. The only missing element was the thick, delicious aroma of homemade marinara.

The world premiere of Robert Merrill's Aria's continues at Rialto Community Players until September 28. Get your tickets by calling (909) 873-8514.

LA Theater reviews by LA Theater Critic.