Though actor Deb Fink claims Berkeley as her hometown, she’s having no trouble mastering the accent for her role in Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers.” She says a thick-as-a-pastrami-sandwich New York accent “is in the blood of most Jews.”
Fink plays the earnest, simple-minded Bella in the Jewish Theatre’s new production of the play, which won four Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize after its 1991 premiere on Broadway.
The Jewish Theatre production, after two nights of previews, opens Saturday, Jan. 8 and continues through Jan. 16 at the JCC of San Francisco’s Kanbar Hall. (It is also scheduled for a March 31–April 10 run at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto.)
Like many of Simon’s late works, the play (which also was adapted for a 1993 movie) is partly autobiographical. Set in the war-era 1940s, it is a coming-of-age tale about two brothers growing up in a dysfunctional Jewish family.
But unlike more lighthearted fare, such as “Brighton Beach Memoirs” and “Broadway Bound,” “Lost in Yonkers” has an underlying solemnity, even through the laughs.
Fink calls it a dramedy.
“This one really captures the drama of family,” Fink says. “Everyone will recognize some of the patterns. There are regrets about familial relationships that get worked through in the life of a family. Being able to laugh at watching people go through it is a real gift.”
The production is something of a family reunion for Fink. Director Nancy Carlin co-starred with her in TJT’s 2009 production of “The Sisters Rosenzweig.” She went to Berkeley High with TJT artistic director Aaron Davidman. She’s a mega-fan of her co-star (and TJT co-founder) Naomi Newman. And as for the rest of the cast, she says, “We’re madly in love with each other.”
For her role, Fink had plenty to draw on. Her character is the boys’ aunt, and though likely brain-damaged after a childhood bout of scarlet fever, Bella still longs to escape the oppressive household. She is, as one line in the play has it, “closed for repairs.”
“She has such a positive, innocent outlook,” Fink says. “She’s the definition of a glass half full. Her other siblings have died or left her there with Mama. The underlying through-line is that Bella takes care of a lot of things.”
She also commands the play’s climactic showdown between Bella and her mother, the embittered matriarch (portrayed by Newman) who will not back down.
To nail her character, Fink has her method down cold.
“The reality is to not work too hard and let the dialogue come out,” she says. “It’s letting it happen, and remembering what it’s like to be a wide-eyed child, when every discovery is the best ever.”
That ability comes easy to her, as Fink has been acting since age 3. Locally she has performed with several companies, including the Aurora Theater Company and Central Works in Berkeley and the S.F. Playhouse and Magic Theatre in San Francisco. In addition to her stage work, Fink also teaches acting for the camera, a course she calls “Comfort on Camera.”
Playing a Jewish character comes easy to Fink. Her grandmother was an immigrant from Germany, and Fink says she still reveres the Jewish culture of her upbringing.
“My sisters and I are all culturally Jewish,” she says. “We come from a family that celebrates the good things in life. There’s nothing I like more than attending a good bar or bat mitzvah. I’m definitely a big, fat Jew.”
“Lost in Yonkers” runs from Saturday, Jan. 8 to Jan. 16 at the JCC of San Francisco, 3200 California St., S.F. $30-$39. Final preview is Friday, Jan. 7, $15-$18. Information: (415) 292-1233 or www.tjt-sf.org.