Dudzick, sometimes called "The Catholic Neil Simon," is the author of the popular "Over The Tavern Trilogy," a group of plays that recalls his youth in Buffalo in the 1950s and '60s.
The play that gives the trilogy its title is now in production at Curtain Call Theatre under the direction of Steve Fletcher.
To simply call the play a comedy is to give it short shrift. Dudzick does go for laughs, and sometimes obvious ones at that, but "Over The Tavern" balances the yucks with some genuine pathos.
Chet, the patriarch of the Pazinksi clan, for example, is carrying some serious baggage, and he does everything he can to make his family bear its weight.
Sev Moro, who was recently so good in Schenectady Light Opera Company's staging of Stephen Sondheim's "Assassins," plays the role of Chet a little too lightly. His anger doesn't actually inspire fear, and it should; and the lack of real bite makes his second act transformation less convincing.
It's not a bad portrayal, but it could be more.
Fletcher does get more from his young cast, which includes Dakota Coons, Robbie Callen, Kelly Smith and Jacob Shipley as the Pazinski kids.
Shipley, in what is essentially Dudzick's role as the wise-cracking, questioning Rudy, is the star here, and he's wonderful.
He laughs a little at his own funny business, but that can be forgiven because he captures the essence of a young man at gentle odds with his upbringing. Rudy isn't looking to bring down the Catholic Church; he just doesn't know if he wants to be part of it.
His scenes with Barbara Richards as the overbearing nun Sister Clarissa are zingers.
Smith is also strong as his sister Annie, who is facing the same awkward teenage changes as her brothers. Dudzick makes real characters here, and Smith plays one.
If Shipley is the star, then Angela Potrikus is the anchor of this show. Potrikus, a longtime resident of the region, but a newcomer to its acting stable, is perfectly cast as Ellen Pazinski, a woman who's at least as tough as her husband and probably tougher.
This is the Catholic mother we remember: strong, funny and sad in equal measure.
Ellen's interactions with her children give this piece its humanity, whether she's counseling Annie on her burgeoning womanhood or staring down her eldest, Eddie (Callen), for his verbal transgressions against his father.
With an easy, natural style, Potrikus makes all of Ellen's shades believable.
Perhaps the play's best scene is one in which Ellen and Chet dance in the kitchen, pushing and pulling each other to the emotional edge.
Like Simon, Dudzick only strikes such elegant balance of light and dark occasionally, but it's good when he does.
Michael Eck is a freelance writer from Albany and a frequent contributor to the Times Union.
Theater review
"OVER THE TAVERN"
Performance reviewed: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Curtain Call Theatre, 210 Old Loudon Road, Latham
Running Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes; one intermission
Continues: 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; matinees, 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Through May 30.
