Philadelphia Weekly

The Arden Theatre Company has found considerable success this season focusing on the intersection between family and art. On the heels of the company’s exquisite productions of Gee’s Bend and My Name is Asher Lev comes the Arden’s world premiere staging of Bruce Graham’s Something Intangible, a new comedy about sibling rivalry and the business of art.

The story focuses on Tony (the excellent Ian Merrill Peakes) and Dale Wiston (the equally good Scott Greer), two brothers who bear more than a passing resemblance to Walt and Roy Disney. Like the Disneys, the pair run a film studio that has built its success on the back of a single animated character (in this case a pup named Petey as opposed to a rodent named Mickey).

Tony is responsible for the creative side of the studio while Dale handles the business. Tony is a perfectionist, artistically brilliant but financially irresponsible. He chases women, pops amphetamines, dresses lavishly (and thanks to costume designer Rosemarie E. McKelvey looks fabulous doing it) and screams at his employees. Dale is his brother’s keeper and in every way his opposite. He dresses conservatively (Greer remains in the same dull suit throughout while Peakes undergoes more costume changes than a runway model), is happily married and frets over money and his brother’s flamboyant lifestyle.

Rounding out the cast of characters is a gay illustrator (Doug Hara), an eccentric composer (the entertaining Walter Charles), a tight-fisted banker (also played by Charles) and Dale’s psychotherapist Sonia (Sally Mercer) who is less a character than a device that allows us to hear Dale’s private concerns.

Graham spends considerable time focusing on Dale’s family (his son has a disability that renders him imperfect in Tony’s eyes) as well as the brothers’ upbringing under their strict father. However it is the play’s exploration of artistic significance that captures our imagination.

The studio’s animated shorts are commercially successful, but Tony (who is obsessed with his legacy) yearns to make more than just cartoons, he wants to create an artistic masterpiece.  Inspired by a classical music concert, he throws himself (and the studio’s finances) into the creation of a new film that marries classical music with groundbreaking animation (Tony calls his film Grandiosa; even casual filmgoers will recognize it as Disney’s Fantasia).

Much of the second act focuses on Tony’s quest to create the film, giving Graham an opportunity to debate the differences (if there are any) between art and entertainment. However Grandiosa isn’t Tony’s only project.

A charming but intolerant bigot who shows a particular disdain for Jews and gays, Tony is planning to build his view of a utopian village. He describes it as a small town that celebrates American values. Dale sees it as an artificial world that disavows imperfection and deviation. We recognize it as Disneyland, a so-called ideal world created by a man incapable of seeing beyond his own vision of perfection.