Be Holden

Down at the small Studio at Cherry Lane Theatre, a surprisingly warmhearted if slightly goofy romantic comedy titled Huck & Holden is on view through February 11. As you might have guessed, the title refers to Huckleberry Finn and Holden Caulfield, but don’t expect a pretentious literary exercise. The show is as well written as it is acted.

It begins inauspiciously with some sitcom-like set-ups and deliveries, but Rajiv Joseph’s script soon escapes that trap and becomes sweetly imaginative. The story revolves around Navin (Nick Choksi), a college student from India, who arrives at the library in a panic to find a book that he initially believes is called Huck & Holden. He’s helped by a young and vivacious female work study student named Michelle (Cherise Boothe), who really couldn’t care less about books — until she comes across a copy of the Kama Sutra. It’s your classic “meet cute” scene, but the actors rise above it to give their characters lives beyond their stereotypes.

Navin is a straight-laced, lonely young man who intends to follow the path set for him by his family back home in Calcutta, while Michelle is a free-spirited young woman who responds to Navin’s honesty and integrity. However, the cultural gaps between them are huge. The play revolves around their efforts to bridge those gaps through the influences of Huckleberry Finn, The Catcher in the Rye, and the Indian goddess Kali, hilariously played by the scene-stealing Nilaja Sun. Arjun Gupta and Leroy McClain also give strong performances in smaller roles, but major huzzahs go to Choksi and Boothe. Costume designer Rebecca Bernstein gets huge mileage out of the four-armed Kali costume, and director Giovanna Sardelli deserves a nod for keeping the comedy sharp and in the moment.

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Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

The award-winning Barrow Group gets under our skin with The Fear Project, a series of short plays that touch on modern paranoia. In this post-9/11 world, fear bubbles just beneath the surface of our everyday lives. It’s a cold, hard fact that we’re all waiting for the other shoe (or bomb) to drop, but terrorism is just the tip of the iceberg. How long will it be till the next Columbine? When will the next serial killer step out of the shadows?

A smart multi-media show, The Fear Project confronts these fears with doses of cathartic comedy, scathing satire, and piercing drama. Six playwrights — Trish Alexandro, Joshua James, K. Lorrel Manning, Scott Organ, Eric Paeper, and Stefanie Zadravec — have contributed pieces to this ambitious work. Paeper, who also serves as director, has shaped them into an impressive collage of our waking nightmares. Well-acted by a large cast, these playlets hit us where we live.

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Our Miss Julie

Julie Wilson has just concluded a brief return engagement at Helen’s Hideaway Room, and we were privileged to witness her performance. At this late stage of her career, the icon offers us the opportunity to experience the distillation of her art. It’s like looking at a Frank Lloyd Wright blueprint; you don’t see the building, but you can see the inspiration and brilliance that went into creating something entirely original.

Wilson’s show was a retrospective of how this singer came upon the songs that would enter her boundless repertoire. For the most part, various songwriters and fellow singers would come across tunes that they felt were right for Julie, and she would eventually see that they were right. Self-effacing and charming, she filled us in on the back-story of many of these numbers, offering amusing digressions that revealed as much of her warm, open soul as did her singing.

Among her most riveting performances were “I’m Gonna Live Till I Die,” “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?,” and “Can That Boy Fox Trot.” With musical director Christopher Denny giving Ms. Wilson superlative support, this gifted artist managed to talk-sing tunes in a way that touched our emotions as deeply as when she was in her prime. We hope that she’ll be back soon.

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[To contact the Siegels directly, e-mail them at siegels@theatermania.com.]