By K. Lindsay Eaves
Amana - They say you always remember your first love, but what about your last? Unfamiliar with Joe DiPietro’s script or his Tony-winning reputation, I was admittedly somewhat trepidatious when I took my seat amid a slightly older demographic to view what was billed as a love-story at the end of life. And then Troy Bruchwalski (“Young Man”) strutted on-stage and I sat up straight with renewed interest. With a dapper suit and a Ryan Gosling swagger, Bruchwalski’s operatic swell set the tone for the high notes
The Last Romance would hit. As his younger self, this might have been a hard act for some to follow, but not for David Q. Combs (“Ralph”). His character exuded a kind of youthful brashness that at times had you wondering if he’d popped a little too much Viagra. But it was all in good fun. Combs’ Ralph is an audacious extrovert kept on a short leash by his over-bearing, if well-meaning, sister, Rose (played by Rachael Lindhart). As first-generation Italian immigrants living in Hoboken, NJ, they form a tight family unit brought together by mutual losses in love. And they’ve forged a good life together from those disappointments. Well, perhaps not good, but comfortable in its predictability and blandness. But all this is changed one day by a chance meeting in a dog park.
