Plot Description:
Photo Finish is the story of an old writer who encounters himself at various points in his life so he can immortalize the lessons he learned in his autobiography.

Quotes/ Anthony's Lines

Reviews:
Review: Photo Finish Proves a Winner
By Raeann R. Rodrigúez
Loyolan Entertainment Writer

How would you like to see and speak to yourself at ages 20, 40, 60, and 80, all at the same point in time? Sounds interesting? Well, Photo Finish, written by Peter Ustinov, does just that. This interesting and entertaining comedy is currently playing at the Wine Cellar Theatre, performed by LMU's Del Rey Players.

Although, there was little advance publicity and the production had to compete with LMU's final basketball game, a good-sized crowd turned out for last Thursday's opening night. The Wine Cellar Theatre was over three-quarters filled with an attentive and enthusiastic group, Anxious and excited, the audience quickly quieted down when the stage lights came up.

The first scene opens with Sam (played by Sam Younger) at 80 years of age, sitting up in bed, his right hand trying to land a handful of pill bombs into the bottle target he holds in his left hand. While his nagging wife Stella (played by Carolyn Gerhardt) jabbers away and tidies up his room, Sam, without a single word, makes the audience rock with laughter by performing various sarcastic bits behind his wife's back.

Equally sarcastic (and funny) in her own right, Stella gets her verbal jabs in. After this opening scene, the audience instantly knows the play will be a lot of laughs and a lot of fun.

Photo Finish is the story of an old writer, (Sam at 80 years) who encounters himself at various points in his life so he can immortalize the lessons he learned in his autobiography. Through each of the three younger representatives that appear before him, he recalls his thoughts and the way in which he viewed life at ages 20, 40, 60, and 80. As Sam sees and relives his past life, literally before our eyes, he better understands and appreciates the life he has led.

Looking back at the fun and faults of yesterday can either be depressing or funny; thankfully, Ustinov chooses the latter in telling this story. With insight of 80 years experience, it is hilarious to hear Sam's conversation with his younger, ignorant counterparts who neither understand the present nor know what the future holds.

In an almost effortless manner Ustinov's play is touchingly amusing, with a great deal of credit going to the talented Del Rey Player cast.

Heading this list is Del Rey Player President Steve Younger who portrays the leading role of Sam at 80 years. Younger's performance is excellent. He has perfect timing and has completely mastered his English accent. He is clearly a fine actor and has a special "star quality" about him. If the play itself does not sound interesting (and how could it not?), at least go to see Younger's performance.

Carolyn Gerhardt is next to appear on the scene as the leading lady Stella, Sam's wife. She is a Theatre Arts major (the only one in the cast), and this is her first semester at LMU. While there is a different actor for each different Sam, there is only one actress to play all four different Stellas, and Gerhardt handles the age range with ease.

She capably plays Stella starting at age 80 going to 20, to 40, to 20, to 40, to 80, and ending at 40!Gerhardt is a fine actress, never leaving any question about her age at the time she is onstage. She also has a good sense of timing when wryly delivering her funnier lines.

The only flaw in her performance resulted from her inability to render tears in the scenes that should otherwise be emotional. But this is a small detail that hardly sidetracks from her fine performance.

Anthony Cistaro, a double major in Communication Arts (CA) and French, deftly plays Sam at age 60 as a suave ladies-man. Cistaro does an excellent job playing Sam. He has a sexy English accent, good delivery of his witty lines, and a very confident, casual acting manner.

Terry Schafer, a freshman accounting major, portrays Sam at 40- middle aged and troubled during World War II. Schafer made a good effort in his performance, but he was too awkward and unconfident in his portrayal of Sam, and this was inconsistent with the other "Sams." The noticeable problems were the lack of an English accent (in contrast with the others) and a poor sense of timing. But Schafer must be commended for his earnest attempt at playing a difficult role.

Marty Felando, a junior CA major, plays Sam at 20. Felando does a good job efficiently playing the young Sam. He confidently displays the appropriate enthusiasm, immaturity, and naivete of a 20-year-old.

Jeff Philips, a senior CA plays Reginald Kinsale, Esquire. Philips plays the very difficult role of Sam's stubborn, temperamental, and not very understanding father. Jeff did a good job getting his character across, but his delivery was a bit awkward and contrived. It is hard to play the heavy, but Jeff still managed to amuse the audience with Kinsale's dry humor.

Sandra Lee, a freshman CA major, plays Mrs. Kinsale, the understanding mother of Sam. She is a fine actress, and she played the sweet Mrs. Kinsale with confidence.

Trish Bowers, also a CA major, is another actress who plays two role: Clarice, Sam's lover (when he is 60) and Ada Cooney, Mr. Kinsale's would-be mistress. Her ability to play two characters in one play demonstrated her talent and skill.

Bill Kosco, a junior CA major, portrays Sam's enthusiastic 39-year-old son Tommy. Kosco is not 39 and he had difficulty convincing the audience in his role. Energetic and amusing, Kosco lacked the maturity that is required when playing an older character.

Leslie Bradford, a senior CA major, plays the role of Alice, Tommy's soon-to-be bride. Making a brief appearance on stage, Bradford delivered a short and sweet performance.

Last, but certainly not least, Mr. Paul Kaufman deserves credit for his role as the director of Photo Finish. Refusing to comment on the evening's performance, Kaufman said, "You can't ask me, I'm the director. Whatever I say would be biased!"

But several unbiased actors commented on their director. "Paul is the best," they all agreed. "This is his show."

But that is not all the cast had to say. They had a few interesting backstage stories to tell. There are scenes in which Sam at age 80 and Mr. Kinsale have to smoke cigars. At one point, Mr. Kinsale says to Sam at 20, "You know the first time I ever smoked one of these, I got terribly sick and threw up all over the floor."

Lead actors Younger and Philips have a confession to make. "We just puff and blow the cigars on stage. Neither one of us has ever smoked a day in our lives," Younger said, still in his gray hair from the evening's performance.

"Yes," Jeff added, amused. "The first time we ever smoked one of those, we almost got sick and threw up all over the floor!"

So how did the actors feel about their performance?

Gerhardt enthusiastically talked about her first performance at LMU, "I felt really good about our performance. Everyone did a really good job, especially for only having practiced four weeks. We all work together and the play went well."

"I felt really good about everything," Younger commented happily. "I was equally pleased with the good audience response we had. Even during the play's serious moments, the crows was really with us."

"We hadn't played before a live audience yet," he continued, "And it was nice to hear laughs when it wasn't funny to us anymore after all our rehearsals. We were reminded that 'Hey, this is a funny play!" It was reassuring to get laughs in the places we didn't expect them."

Photo Finish is a good play. Any minor faults are overcome by the length of time a smile remains on your face, and the many times you burst into hearty laughter. The play is well acted, directed, and simply a lot of fun. Take some time to drop by the Wine Cellar. Performances continue through March 14, 15, and 17^th.