Ron Bohmer in:
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Ron Bohmer starred in the musical Bed and Sofa with Ann Crumb
(Aspects of Love, Les Miserables) and Jeff McCarthy (Beauty
and the Beast, Side Show) at Philadelphia's Wilma Theater. Bed and Sofa is based on the 1926 silent film by Abram
Room with music by Polly Pen, libretto by Laurence Klavan, musical direction by Georgia C.
Stitt, and directed by Blanka Zizka.
Photo courtesy of
Bettina
Pagalilauan
and Jeff McCarthy Online
Ron
has been nominated for Philadelphia's Barrymore Award for Best Lead
Actor in a Musical for his performance as Volodya in "Bed and
Sofa"!! Congratulations, Ron!
|
NIKOLAI.
LUDMILLA. VOLODYA.
(Bed and
Sofa's three characters)
Nikolai (Kolya) works and lives with his wife,
Ludmilla, in a tiny apartment in Moscow. She stays at home dreaming of romance and a
life outside. Volodya has a job but needs a place to live in order to work.
Moscow has a housing shortage. The good intentioned Kolya invites Volodya to share his
cramped quarters, but unbeknownst to him, ends up sharing his wife as well. From the
rumpled covers of a bed to the battlefield of a checker board, Bed
and Sofa soars with its whimsical score and haunting libretto. Bed and Sofa is a delightful and innovative musical which garnered
two 1996 Obie Awards (including Distinguished Music) and seven 1996 Drama Desk nominations
(including Best Musical).
~~~~~
"...the production, directed
with great flair and affection by Blanka Zizka, is a marvel. The score has exceptional
clarity and charm, as, indeed, do the three fine performers in the cast. How refreshing to
see a sweetheart of a musical theater piece without falling chandeliers, flying
helicopters or sinking boats - just a good, solid story about people." -Brian Caffall, Philadelphia Weekly, 12/23/98
BED AND SOFA is
"tasteful, appealing and entertaining. ...a truly stunning production...that features
three superb performers and a physical production that rivals any the Wilma has heretofore
produced." -Clarke Groome, Chestnut Hill Local, 12/17/98
"...one of the most astonishing
theatrical works of this or any season. This simple jewel of a production should go on
everyone's holiday list. What a gift of the season from the always-innovative Wilma!"
-Sally Friedman, Main Line Life, 12/17/98
"One of the strangest and most wonderful
productions of the year proves that good things come in small packages, particularly when
the package is expertly wrapped. BED AND SOFA, directed by
Blanka Zizka, manages to tell a huge emotional story with a quirky but convincing balance
of sincerity and slapstick. You've never seen anything like it - but you ought to." -Mark Cofta, Main Line Times, 12/24/98 |
Bed
and Sofa
at
The Wilma
Theater
Philadelphia, PA
December 2, 1998 - January 10, 1999 |
Outside The Wilma Theater |
The Train, The Train, The Train; in 20 minutes the train to Rostoff |
Photo courtesy of The Wilma Theater |
| The two war buddies, Kolya
and Volodya meet on the streets after many years. After a bit of reminiscing, Kolya
invites Volodya to share the tiny apartment much to the surprise and eventual delight of
Ludmilla, "He has blond hair and a sensitive face." Surprise, Kolya must leave on an important, unplanned, business
trip for three weeks. Volodya realizes that this could lead to a compromising
situation and intends to leave to protect Ludmilla's reputation, saying "People will talk rubish." But Kolya naively
insists that he stay. |
 Photo courtesy of
The
Wilma Theater |
The
dressing screen.
Volodya and Ludmilla are left alone in an
uneasy silence. Volodya brings up the sleeping arrangements, half clarifying
and half questioning, "You take the bed and I the sofa."
The attraction between the two intensifies. The dressing screen is the only
thing to separate them. Out of sight, but not out of mind. |
Jeff McCarthy (Kolya), Ann Crumb
(Ludmilla), and Ron Bohmer (Volodya)
Production photo
courtesy of
The
Wilma Theater
|
We'll take the bed
and you the sofa.
As time passes, Ludmilla finds Volodya to have qualities that
Kolya is lacking. He is attentive and treats her with kindness. It isn't long
before they give in to their mutual attraction. As they revel in the morning after
joy of their connection, the realization of their betrayal also sets in.
Kolya returns early from his trip eager to spend time with his
wife. Volodya is quite unhappy that he has become the odd man out; after sharing the
bed, he is now back to the sofa. He must find a way to tell his friend that he has
fallen in love with Ludmilla, and she with him. Kolya is also unhappy with the
situation, wanting to be alone with Ludmilla as well. To which they simultaneously
declare, "Love is big and complicated! ", and
the secret is revealed. |
I
sit in my rocking chair and dream.
Kolya leaves unable to bare it any longer. High
atop the Bolshoy, he dreams of being back at home and sitting in his rocking chair with
Ludmilla by his side. In his place and in his chair, Volodya rocks back and forth
and dreams of leading a rally with Ludmilla by his side. Both men love her in their
own way, but not the way Ludmilla wishes to be loved. Ludmilla dreams of being
independent, but sadly reveals that, "I never remember my
dreams." |
 Photo
courtesy of
The
Wilma Theater |
 Ann Crumb, Ron Bohmer,
and Jeff McCarthy
Production photo courtesy of
The
Wilma Theater |
Every evening now....CHECKERS!
Kolya, Volodya and Ludmilla, 1-2-3.
Kolya returns, Moscow still has a housing shortage, so they must
continue to share the tiny apartment. In what has become an uncomfortable
situation, Kolya wages war in the form of a nightly game of checkers. As he
proclaims, "In the end I always win," he
manages to find a way to keep the two apart. Frustrated, Ludmilla and Volodya come
up with a plan to get Kolya out of the apartment by sending him for food.
Volodya insists, "You get the bread and I the soda!"
Of course, only Kolya goes to the market. Volodya sneaks back in to be with
Ludmilla. |
| Eventually, both men become
engrossed in their nightly contests to the exclusion of Ludmilla. Now she is ignored
by both Kolya and Volodya. Try as she might, she can't quite get either interested
in spending time with her. As soon as one starts to waver, the other draws
attention back to the game. Ludmilla threatens to leave, yet neither tries to stop
her. She now has two men who ignore her. |
The
Stalin wall calendar....
February 9th!
An unhappy and broken Ludmilla does her chores, knowing
that neither man appreciates her. Her sighs concern Volodya and he tries to appease
and comfort her, while Kolya repeatedly dismisses her plight. Eventually she
reveals, "I am going to have a child!". Both
Kolya and Volodya are ecstatic until the moment they realize that the child might belong
to the other. From the calendar, Kolya determines that the child is not his.
In turn, Volodya believes that "She would always be torn."
So neither is happy about this turn of events and both selfishly insist that Ludmilla have
an abortion. |
 Photo courtesy of
The
Wilma Theater |
 Photo courtesy of
The
Wilma Theater |
I am not FOUR! Ludmilla waits her turn and watches the other
women go one by one for their abortions. As her turn comes up, she decides she
cannot, she will not do what she is told to do this time.
She returns home to gather her things;
finally ready to gain her independence. She leaves a farewell note for both men on
the back of her picture: "I am going away. I do not
believe that either of you is worthy to be a father." When they
realize that she has really left, they experience one brief moment of remorse and then go
about deciding who gets the bed and who gets the sofa. |
~~~~~
For more information on the Bed and Sofa production, try these links.
~~~~~ |
|
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Special Thanks to Bohmer Buddy, Cyndee Llewellyn,
for Ron's new-and-improved Bed & Sofa page!
~~~~~
® The Official Ron Bohmer Internet
Site is created in
cooperation with Ron
Bohmer
and is maintained by
Kristine M. Kulage |
