Bunker-esque character hits Le Petit stage

He’s stubborn, opinionated, bigoted, lives in New York City and he’s from the 1970s.

Archie Bunker, you say?

Think again.

Prepare yourself to meet 72-year-old Samuel Horowitz, a whirlwind of petty complaints who nurtures grievances and spouts outrageously offensive remarks about other people. But, in the end, Horowitz has a bigger heart than anything Archie could imagine in his crabbed philosophy.

Le Petit Theatre de Terrebonne (7829 Main St., downtown Houma) is staging Henry Denker’s 1980 comedy “Horowitz and Mrs. Washington” from Thursday, Feb. 21 to Sunday, March 2 (except Monday, Feb. 25). Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays.

As the play begins, Horowitz has endured dual setbacks: He is the victim of a mugging and, worse, he has suffered a serious stroke. He needs a home therapist for the latter to avoid going to a nursing facility. The only therapist available to him is an African-American practical nurse/housekeeper named Harriet Washington.

Director Edwina Yakupzack said “Horowitz,” with its blunt portrayal of race relations, is a bit of a departure for Le Petit.

However, the play is similar to another production staged by the theater two years ago, “Visiting Mr. Green,” the 1996 Jeff Baron work that also concerned an elderly Jewish man whose views about people are challenged.

Horowitz is played by Jay Belanger, Terrebonne Parish deputy clerk of court, who has come out of acting retirement to do the role.

Fortunately for parish theatergoers, he did. Belanger has the flair needed to pull off the difficult part; Horowitz is onstage for the entire length of the play.

Belanger had acted for five years before doing his last performance in the melodrama “Dirty Work at the Crossroads” with Le Petit in 1971. He then directed “Don’t Drink the Water” for the theater, and his amateur career ended.

Belanger confessed that he sometimes can be as cantankerous in real life as the ornery Archie cum Horowitz.

“But he (Horowitz) is smarter than Archie, more successful,” he said.

Mrs. Washington (portrayed by Esther Rolle on Broadway) is played by Terrebonne Parish schools talented theater teacher Nichole Williams, who lists Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett and Mel Gibson as her acting inspirations. Her dream, she said, is to work with Tyler Perry, the writer/actor from New Orleans.

Williams is performing in her first play for Le Petit. She has acted in several Nicholls State University productions, including portraying Lysistrata in the ancient Greek comedy of the same title. She also appeared in the dark comedy “House of Blue Leaves” and the drama “To Kill a Mocking-bird.”

“Horowitz” has several poignant moments as Horowitz works to overcome his partial paralysis and laments the death of his wife. To its credit, the play shows accurately the trials stroke victims actually endure.

But “Horowitz” is mostly about delivering laughs. Playwright Denker, in particular, treats the issue of Jewish identity lightly. Horowitz’s son, Marvin, changed his surname to Hammond and his grandchildren’s names were altered from Baruch and Chana to Bruce and Candy.

Most of all, audiences can expect a bravura performance from Belanger. Like the veteran stage and screen actor Sam Levene – who portrayed Horowitz on Broadway – Belanger is a “master of the groan, the pause, the gravelly riposte,” as one critic described Levene.

Jay Belanger, Terrebonne Parish’s deputy Clerk of Court, and Nichole Williams, who teaches Terrebonne Parish schools talented theatre students, star in Le Petit’s production of “Horowitz and Mrs. Washington.”