Center Repertory Company’s Production of “Lost in Yonkers” Is a Big Hit!

By Jan Miller

     Center Repertory Company’s 35th anniversary revival production of Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers”, currently performing at the Lesher Center for the Arts (1601 Civic Dr.) in Walnut Creek, CA. through Sunday, April 19, 2026, maintains the laughs and insights of this Tony Award-winning heartfelt comedy/drama.

     Directed by Nancy Carlin, this play transports the audience to a small apartment above a candy store in Yonkers, New York in the early 1940s. Financially strapped and needing to dig his family out of debt, Eddie, the father of two teenage boys, moves south for work, and leaves his boys to live with their no-nonsense grandmother and loving, but sometimes absent-minded, Aunt Bella while he takes to the road as a salesman. A strange new world then opens up to the boys as they are introduced to their mafia-linked Uncle Louie, a small-time crook.

     A level of tension then develops, especially between Bella and her mother, when Bella decides to marry her “boyfriend” Johnny, who serves as an usher at the local movie theater, which she attended multiple times. However, Johnny seems to be mentally unbalanced. Naturally, Bella’s mother suppresses her natural exuberance to marry him. At the end, Aunt Bella comes to terms with living life in her own way.

     Much of the play’s material is seen through the eyes of the two boys, especially Jay, the older. The play offers a series of small discoveries and victories, over life, handicaps, and especially Grandma’s autocracy.

     The seven-person cast of “Lost in Yonkers” is outstanding, including Adam Magill (Eddie), Tristan Rodriguez (Jay), Ray Khalili (Arty), Renee Rogoff (Bella), Ellen Ratner (Grandma Kurnitz), Vinny Randazzo (Uncle Louie), and Sarah Mitchell (Gert).

     While “Lost in Yonkers” is a one-scene production, Scenic Designer Deanna Zibello does an outstanding job, as the scene convincingly brings the audience back to the 1940s. Kudos also go out for costume designer Becky Bodurtha and props designer Alyssa Tryon, in helping to nostalgically bring the audience back-in-time.

     For tickets or more information on CenterREP’s “Lost in Yonkers” please visit centerrep.org.

*****

Photo caption: Ray Khalili (L) Tristan A. Rodriguez, Renee Rogoff and Adam Magill (R) in CenterREP’s “Lost in Yonkers”.
(Photo by Kevin Berne)