>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

By Jeff Petersen

Observer Staff Writer

Bryce Johnson picked quite a show for his acting debut.

You might think he'd want a short show. And a bit part.

The Wallowa 17-year-old, though, plays the lead part in Neil Simon's longish comedy-drama "Brighton Beach Memoirs," which the MidValley Theatre Group opens Friday at the South Fork Grange.

Johnson plays the part of Eugene Morris Jerome, a 15-year-old in 1937 New York living in a poor Jewish family. He is constantly guilt-tripped by his mother and idolizes his brother.

"I try to get a real good feel of how Eugene would feel and think, so the audience is not going to wonder who I am," Johnson said.

The show is the first in a trilogy of autobiographical shows by Simon that include "Biloxi Blues" about the playwright's Army days and "Broadway Bound" about writing comedy for such stars as Sid Caesar and Imogene Coco.

Director Kate Loftus said Johnson seems to have a in-born knack for acting.

"He listens very carefully and does his homework," Loftus said. "He's like a dog with a new bone and is having a great time with it."

Loftus hands out the homework in the form of a reference sheet listing people, places, key words and more to help the actors transport themselves to 1930s New York.

Although Johnson has the lead part, Loftus insists MidValley has no stars on the door.

"We are an ensemble, and everybody is a star," she said. "That's the way I've always directed. All the actors work very hard."

Johnson, who plans to get his GED and go on to study theater at Eastern Oregon University, may be new to the stage but he does have experience with amateur voice acting. Voice actor Michael Bell is a hero. Johnson belongs to an online group that creates radio plays, but the Ian McKellen fan ("Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers") looks forward to doing the real thing.

"I've always wanted to play-act off someone else," he said. "Unlike recording, here you don't have to pretend."

He got involved in "Brighton" through his mother, Lyn Westhoff, who helps Loftus with painting sets, and brought home a script. When Loftus needed someone to fill the Eugene role, she first thought of Johnson's brother, Deighton, who had performed in other MidValley productions, but he was on vacation.

So Bryce got the call.

In the past, Johnson had thought many of the MidValley plays were on "dorky subjects," but he connected right away with the Simon script.

"This play has more humanity," Johnson said. "It's edgy, not happy-go-lucky, smiles all the time, no problems to speak of."

His well-developed sense of humor should pay dividends in the character of Eugene.

"When I read the play the first time," he said, "I laughed out loud at a couple of the

lines. I wonder now if the audience will laugh in the same places."

Johnson has worked hard to memorize his lines and those next to his in the script.

"I need to know their lines too so I know when to start talking," he explained.

He has found play practice to be both challenging and fun. The challenging part is remembering where he's supposed to go, and to be open to the audience — no backs turned.

The fun part is delivering the lines and interacting with the other actors.

And he has no problem doing what some novice actors have difficulty with — projecting to the back of the room.

"I get to the grange and switch on my loud voice," he said, laughing.