Glengarry Glen Ross: These People are Insane, They Just Like Talking to Salesmen

by Michael McKeon

One consistent hassle in life we can all agree on, regardless of your own personal demographic, is that dealing with salesmen is a necessary evil.  Whether it be buying a car, a home, or hell even a cell phone you must sit down at the table and play the game.  Then you must decide if this person on the other side of the table is genuine or has a motive.  How can you get the best deal?  Should you look somewhere else for a better price? The Blue Moon Theatre in Woodstown NJ did an amazing job bringing forward many of these emotions on Friday evening with their production of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize winning “Glengarry Glen Ross” Directed by Mike Russell and Assistant Directed by Patrick Connelly.

When you first walked into the theatre you could see the stage was clearly set to depict the infamous Chinese restaurant across the street from the office where the salesmen go to eat and strategize their sales approach.  This is where we are introduced to the characters and given a glimpse into their individual backgrounds. The Costume and Set Design is also credited to director Mike Russell and Set Construction is credited to Greg Hammil & Joe Stark. This was brilliantly done in the form of three separate conversations throughout the 40-minute first act. The dialogue was executed so well that when the lights came on for intermission, I could not believe how quickly the time had passed.  

We are first introduced to Shelly Levene (Paul Kranz) and his manager John Williamson (Alair DiRemirio) having a conversation about possible sales leads.  Kranz did a magnificent job of portraying a down on his luck salesman who will pull out all the tricks to close the sale. Kranz pleaded for new leads with desperation and bounced quickly back to his, seemingly unethical, sales tactics to get what he wants.  DiRemirio played off Kranz’s energy perfectly by showing his discomfort and utter lack of confidence in his sales ability during the conversation. It is made clear that Kranz and DiRemirio are not fond of each other by DiRemirio’s scowls and condescending comments during the whole conversation.  

Next, we are thrown into a conversation between George Aaranow (Peter McMahon) and Dave Moss (Jebediah Eachus). McMahon hilariously fumbles through the conversation as an anxious, easily excitable salesman. McMahon maintains that character trait consistently and remains a comic relief throughout the production. Eachus aggressively pushes McMahon to agree with him using peer pressure and bullying tactics.  Then in the same conversation Eachus changes his tone to be supportive of McMahon’s anxiety, which he in fact created to begin with.  The back and forth between McMahon and Eachus absolutely kept the audience laughing the whole conversation. By the end of their discussion the audience is just as unsure of the plan as Aaranow.  

The third and final conversation in the Chinese restaurant introduces Richard “Ricky” Roma (John C. Hill) and James Lingk (Rick Thompson).  Hill constantly spouts philosophical nonsense to both draw interest as well as help justify his relentless predatory sales approach.  Hill’s overall upbeat attitude is used to hide his arrogance and true morals. Thompson did a great job of maintaining confusion and unease while Hill spoke most of the scene while giving his eccentric, drawn out sales pitch closing Act 1.  This helps explain why Roma has the reputation of the best salesman in the office.  

As Act 2 begins the restaurant has become the general office thanks to a set transition from stage manager Alex Bak. This is where we get to see the characters interact with each other and since we now understand their backgrounds it was very fun to watch.  As the scene starts DiRemigio is frantically walking around the office in a bad mood discovering there was a burglary the previous night and that is when we are introduced to Detective Baylen (Ben Couey). The atmosphere quickly changes from serious to a bit of a circus as the salesmen enter one by one and start to show their true colors. Eachus paces the room and rants keeping true to his character's cynical scheming personality as McMahon frantically bounces between the other salesmen trying to figure out what his next best option is. My favorite part of the act was when Kranz tells his war story about the big sale he made that morning.  Kranz really threw all his emotion into the energy of the story.  He had a huge smile on his face while explaining how he pressured the customers into the purchase.  Again, showing Shelly “The Machine” Levene’s true motives.  You could feel the excitement pouring out of Kranz like an animal waiting to pounce on prey.  

Unfortunately, the run of this show has completed as of this past weekend.  However, please use this as motivation to see the next production at The Blue Moon Theatre as soon as you can.  This small theater has continued to produce high quality productions since we at SJTC  have started reviewing them 3 years ago and we cannot wait to review the next.