STAGE REVIEWS : Stumbling Toward Manhood in Biloxi

In “Biloxi Blues,” our hero, Jerome, has left the ache of adolescence behind: Demanding parents, inedible liver concoctions and sexual anxiety have been replaced by the more manly terrors of crazed drill sergeants, hot-to-trot hookers and flatulent bunkmates.

Life hasn’t necessarily gotten better for the kid, but it sure is different from the Jewish world he knew in Brighton Beach. The second installment in Neil Simon’s sentimental trilogy about growing up (with “Brighton Beach Memoirs” as the first leg and “Broadway Bound” as the last), “Biloxi Blues” takes the sharp but naive Jerome into World War II Army life, where he continues to face daily trials while learning of honor, bigotry, pain, love and, of course, sex.

Finding fault with “Biloxi” comes easy: The main characters approach stereotypes, Simon treads over his well-worn themes concerning relationships and the humor can get pretty crude. But the 1985 comedy-drama is also a pleasure for the way it effortlessly captures this upside-down world of Jerome and his fellow recruits, a group so inexperienced that the notion of dying on the battlefield is as remote as pitching for the New York Yankees.

Their main concern is avoiding the wrath of buggy Sgt. Toomey, and, just maybe, losing their virginity on a prostitute’s bed in town.

At Orange Coast College, director John Ferzacca has a capable young cast to work with; he makes the most of the opportunity. These student performers, close to the right age for Simon’s characters, are well rehearsed and seem to know that “Biloxi” is more subtle than it may appear.

Most of the characterizations have depth; they help the production plumb that aura of vigor, optimism and surprise that Simon’s coming-of-age tale is all about.

None is more comfortable with his role than Bryan S. Luterman as Epstein, the dignified and complex intellectual of this barracks. “Biloxi” may be Jerome’s story, but Epstein tends to dominate our interest, mainly because he is the play’s noble center, its integrity and aspiration. Luterman holds enough in to show the character’s core of thoughtfulness but also reveals an uneasiness at realizing how separate Epstein is from everybody, even Jerome, a fellow Jew.

But it is not Jerome who has to endure the racist jabs from the group’s bully-boy leader, Wykowski (the imposing Scott Parks). Epstein does because his uncompromising posture outrages the other men; Jerome, hoping to get along, is more resilient, and the fellows like him for it. Jerome wonders if his position is cowardly; Epstein is his model for comparison.

Jerome has to project a quality of goodness against a dimension of flaws. Greg Guy accomplishes this. There are times when Guy’s portrait lacks details, or is painted with the same strokes over and again, but generally he communicates what Jerome is all about. Guy is always a likable presence and, almost as much as Luterman, he holds our sympathy as Jerome muddles through it all.

All in all, this is a strong show, but it does have a few blurry patches. As Sgt. Toomey, Paul Klees has a powerful presence, especially in the one-on-one exchanges with his men, but the edge of eccentricity, even madness, is not fully explored. His Toomey is noisy and bold enough but not quite as frightening as he should be.

Ferzacca’s pacing is spry almost all the time, but something is missing from the romantic exchanges between Jerome and first love Daisy (Rose Farquhar). The flaw is more Neil Simon’s than OCC’s--there is a flatness in Simon’s point of view during these scenes (the tone is Capraesque but without the rushing joy) that doesn’t present much opportunity.

In contrast, there is verve and reality in Jerome’s convulsive internalizing during a visit to Rowena’s (the slinky Kimberly Peterson) to dispatch his virginity. In it, we get to see the boy slipping and sliding toward the man, which is what “Biloxi Blues” and this production is all about.

Biloxi Blues

An Orange Coast College production of Neil Simon’s play. Directed by John Ferzacca. With Ponzer Berkman, Scott Parks, Steven Shults, Greg Guy, Bryan S. Luterman, Paul Klees, Mark Salamon, Kimberly Peterson, Robin Turner, Rose Farquhar and Laura Hinsberger. Set by David Scaglione. Lighting by David Dunbrack. Costumes by Keith Wolfe and David Scaglione. Plays today through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. in the campus’s Drama Lab, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. $5-$6. (714) 432-5527.