Sylvia at Geva

When Geva announced this season’s lineup would include Mark Cuddy directing Sylvia, starring Jen Cody, I was instantly excited. I’d seen this show on Broadway in 1995, starring Sarah Jessica Parker, and adored it, even though I didn’t particularly like dogs at the time. I’ve seen Cody in two Geva productions (Women in Jeopardy and Spamalot) so I knew the role would fit her like a glove (in fact, Cuddy scheduled this production especially for her – the role has been on her bucket list). Twenty years is a long time to wait to see a show again (I could have seen the recent revival, but it starred Parker’s not-so-versatile husband instead of her…), but it was worth it.

This play, written by the incredibly talented and witty A. R. Gurney, features a dog, who stirs up trouble for a childless couple. When my husband and I adopted a troubled labrador retriever 11 years ago, you can bet Sylvia nagged at my subconscious! Oddly, I haven’t seen either of Gurney’s two most famous plays – Love Letters and Cocktail Hour – but I have loved the others of his that I have seen – Sweet Sue, and especially Ancestral Voices and Mrs. Farnsworth. Gurney’s conversational writing is so authentic, that you could imagine it in real life. Perhaps that’s because a good deal of it is lifted from his actual conversations (including some back-and-forth between the married couple in Sylvia, which was inspired by actual events in his life).

Mark Cuddy toasting the cast and crew at the
opening night celebration

In the pre-show talk at the opening night celebration, which I attended with a friend, Cuddy explained that Gurney’s plays are a tapestry based on his life and world growing up in Buffalo, a “high-end, WASP culture.” He chronicles the changes happening to him, and the ability, or inability, of people to adapt to those changes. His characterizations are so vivid, he actually advised his mother not to see Cocktail Hour (although when she eventually did, she didn’t seem to recognize the characters based on her and her husband).

In addition to Jen Cody, the show stars her Tony-nominated husband, Hunter Foster (who starred in last season’s Spamalot). And you might recognize John Scherer from Geva’s recent production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Dee Hoty, who rounds out the cast, is a 3-time Tony nominee (I still have the playbill from a 1998 production of Follies she appeared in – is it too cheesy to ask her to autograph it?!). As Cuddy remarked, this is probably the most experienced cast we’ve ever had here at Geva, which is appropriate, since comedy needs good actors to make it work.

Jen Cody warming up on the set as we
gather for the toast

Cuddy’s vision of a New Yorker cartoon (because, in considering a talking dog, that was what naturally came to mind) is reflected in the gray palette set design, and the lighting designer chose a lot of bold colors to offset the grey. The costume designer has a great sense of color and comedy, and each of Sylvia’s costumes, in particular, helps set the mood.

I won’t be waiting so long to see this show again – I’m returning in two weeks with my husband, and I might see it a third time as a “girls’ night out.” That should last me for the next twenty years…

Sylvia runs until February 5. For more information, go to: http://gevatheatre.org