A League of Their Own Character Review: Walter Harvey

*The schedule for the Character Review posts will be changing to Friday (or Saturday at the latest from now on).

*I apologize for not posting last weekend. There is only so much that can be done in a day.

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the movie A League of Their Own. Read at your own risk if you have not watched the movie. There is something to be said about a well-written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front of us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

When a businessperson starts a new venture, the outcome is unknown. The only objective is to increase the bottom line. In A League of Their Own, Walter Harvey (Garry Marshall) is the CEO of a candy company. With the men away fighting in World War II, he sees an opportunity in helping to establish the AAGPBL. Though he sees an economic opportunity, he does not know that he is creating an important crack in the glass ceiling.

When the teams are not doing as well as hoped, Walter and the other owners want to fold. But Ira Lowenstein (David Strathairn) sees its potential and takes over running the organization, creating the success that the original owners could not see.

Starts at 3:39

Walter is both a man of his time and a CEO whose job is to keep his company open. He cannot understand or see that what he is doing is opening the door for future generations of women to spread their wings.

Which is why he is a memorable character.

This will be my last character review post for A League of Their Own. Come back next weekend to find out the next set of characters that I will be reviewing,

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Cyrano de Bergerac Review

Cyrano de Bergerac is the tale of unrequited love and finding the courage to tell the one you love how you feel.

The newest adaptation is playing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn. Told in a spoken word/hip-hop/Hamilton style, James McAvoy plays the title character. Evelyn Miller is Roxanne, the woman he loves, but is unable to reveal his feelings due to his unusually long nose. Eben Figueiredo is Christian, the young soldier who Cyrano uses to express his love.

My main reason for wanting to see this show is McAvoy. He is one of those actors who cannot be pegged as a certain character type. That being said, this version is not for the purists. It’s a creative take on the story that we all know. Beyond the unorthodox re-telling is that McAvoy is not wearing a prosthetic nose. This makes sense because even the most conventionally attractive of people are likely to harbor insecurities of some sort.

My problem with the play is that the first half is just a little too long and despite the excellent performances, I was not as impressed as I thought I would be. There is something missing that I cannot put my finger on that would have made the show that much better

Do I recommend it? Maybe.

Cyrano de Bergerac is playing at BAM until May 22, 2022. Check the website for tickets and showtimes.