Drinking nonalcoholic beer proves thespians suffer for their craft

{With Dawnell Smith}

Published: May 28th, 2008 09:52 PM
Last Modified: May 28th, 2008 02:33 PM

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The cast at Cyrano's Off Center Playhouse goes through five bottles of champagne, 14 beers and 12 shots of liquor a night.

I'm not talking about thespians with needy demands but rather hardscrabble performers in the current production of William Saroyan's 1939 play "The Time of Your Life." Chugging a few beers for the cause is commendable, even pleasurable, but plowing through a few pints of something that only looks like beer is downright heroic.

Exactly how can Ron Holmstrom down three pints of O'Doul's doused with cream soda without grimacing? Well, he acts like he's enjoying the beer while immersed in his role of Kit Carson savoring every drop.

Ross Emerson as Joe has it easy by comparison. He has to act inebriated and eventually transform into the loud, obnoxious, absurdist version of his character, but he gets to drink "champagne" (Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider).

Don't get me wrong. Director Dick Reichman and the brewers at Midnight Sun Brewing Co. did a great job turning a nonbeer into something that looks remarkably like lager, but the concoction tastes only mildly tolerable.

Nonalcoholic beer just tastes bad, no matter how sweet the company.

You'd be wrong to take the barfly-laden script lightly, however. Hope and companionship certainly emanate from the characters' strange allegiances and conversations, but the oppressing truth of what lies outside the bar doors permeates every piece of dialogue, every weeping reveal, every infatuated heart.

Like the rest of us, these characters know that things don't get better just because you have a few laughs, trysts and a seat at the local watering hole. The play won the Pulitzer Prize (which Saroyan refused) and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for good reason -- it has far more nuance, scope and complexity than just the foam and lace.

See for yourself. "Time of Your Life" continues at 7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays until June 8 at Cyrano's, 413 D St. Tickets cost $17.50 at the door or online at www.centertix.net.

Cyrano's will sell three real Midnight Sun beers at intermission of the play: Kodiak Brown, Sockeye Red and Arctic Rhino Coffee Porter.

AND ANOTHER WAY BEER DOES A BODY GOOD

Midnight Sun will hold a benefit auction during its 13th anniversary release of a Belgian-style brown ale tonight. The beer was soaked in sour cherries, but there's nothing sour about the cause.

All proceeds from a silent auction from 5 to 7 p.m. tonight will go to the Food Bank of Alaska. Plus, all sales of beer samples today and tomorrow will go directly to the Food Bank, along with pallets of donated cans, bags, boxes of nonperishable food.

If you have a product or service to add to the auction, call or e-mail Barb Miller right now, 230-4161 or barb@ midnightsunbrewing.com. Otherwise, show up at the brewery (7329 Arctic Blvd., www.midnightsunbrewing. com) with cash, a thirst for good beer and maybe a donation for the food pile.

THERE'S MORE!

• Celestial Meads will hold an open house from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at 700 W. 41st Ave., Unit H, off of Arctic Boulevard. The event will feature snacks and samples, along with mead for sale. Find out more at www.celestialmeads.com.

• And those of you yearning for that spicy IPA from Alaskan Brewing Co. need search no more. Kinley's Restaurant and Bar, 3230 Seward Highway, will hold a beer dinner at 6:30 p.m. June 12 with four courses of food paired with a handful Alaskan beers, including its Belgian Wit and Jalapeno India Pale Ale. The meal costs $55 a person. Call ahead for a seat, 644-8953.

• Find Daily News reporter Dawnell Smith at adn.com/contactdsmith or call 257-4587.

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