The Acton Off-Broadway Theatre Review: Tom Alper’s The Pitch
By Acton
“What are we selling again?” asks Tom (Tom Alper) after a dizzying, disorienting orientation in the new workplace comedy The Pitch (writer Tom Alper, director Mike Keller). It’s his first day on the job after being recruited the night before by the squirrelly guy on the barstool next to him (Kevin Bartini), and his new office is a minefield of potential firing offenses. Later we find out that the team sells three basic electronic doo dads that are found in just about everything, and the tiny company is kept afloat by their best salesman’s (Joey Russo) gift of gab.
Accepting a job from the rando next to you at a bar might sound desperate, and Tom is. Not only does he have a soon-to-be high school freshman daughter (Sammi O’Connor) to take care of, but he suddenly finds himself the target of an especially malevolent IRS agent (Phil Hendrie), who threatens to throw him behind bars if he doesn’t pay a dubious debt from years ago—either that, or steal incriminating data from his shady new company and hand it over. All the while, he’s getting to know, and like, the guys at work (Ricky Ray and Connor Killeen), and even his fearsome boss Mike (Joe Lorenzo).
With that setup, I expected more tension as Tom grapples with being forced to ruin the lives of his new friends, or be destroyed himself (the IRS has particularly gross plans for his daughter), while simultaneously getting good enough at sales to keep his job. But the stakes never seem as high as they ought to be, and Tom’s rise to the top of the office food chain feels fairly arbitrary.
The Pitch is well cast, and Julie Tran is outstanding as Angela, a buyer that Tom successfully woos over the phone in The Pitch’s best scene. Her brash, confident performance finds the laughs in the material and is flat-out entertaining. Joey Russo is fun as the top salesman Skunk, and Sammi O’Connor as Tom’s daughter Michelle shows real emotion in her scenes that transcends the arguments she’s having over whether she should play softball or be a cheerleader.
Just when we begin to wonder how all the loose ends can possibly be resolved without adding on another act, everything is wrapped up with a very silly deus ex machina that makes less sense the more you think about it. But don’t think about it too hard—The Pitch is content as a lighthearted evening of neighborhood theater with a charismatic cast.
