Brighton Beach Memoirs at Fox Valley Repertory

Family life in 1937 was tough for 15-year-old Eugene Jerome: War was on the way, money was tight, liver was always for dinner, and as Eugene's father would point out, "If you didn't have a problem, you wouldn't live in this house." Living with six other Jewish-American family members under one roof doesn't afford him much privacy, but it does provide him with plenty of ammunition for his budding career as a writer. His journal excerpts are a true recipe for hilarity, as he introduces his over-worked father, his under-appreciated mother, his worldy older brother Stanley, his pampered cousins Nora and Laurie, and his widowed, asthmatic Aunt Blanche. This bittersweet memoir is an affectionate, entertaining lesson in overcoming hard times with warmth and humor. His memoirs about baseball, girls, and life in Brooklyn remind us all that love and laughter prevails.