By Ben Joravsky
The May 7 and 9 shows are the talk of the surrounding Englewood community; Lufrano has mailed invitations to civic groups and senior-citizen centers throughout the area. Rumor has it that Lynn St. James and Paul Vallas, the board’s top two officials, will be coming, maybe even bringing Mayor Daley with them.
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But in recent years, as many of the area’s top students were drawn to schools with a greater emphasis on the liberal arts, Lindblom’s reputation faltered. The school responded by broadening its curriculum and eliminating some shop requirements. But enrollment continued to fall, dropping from well over 2,000 to less than 1,000. Last year’s board argued that the school wasn’t worth the money needed to keep it running.
It was in part to send a new message about the school that Lufrano decided to stage a play. “There’s a lot of talent here,” he says. “It needs an outlet, but it’s here.”
So far, Lufrano and his students have received no assistance from the downtown theater community, even though almost all the major companies boast some sort of outreach program. The Goodman Theatre, which has staged several Wilson plays, including Two Trains, has been particularly disappointing.
The play takes place in a diner in a black working-class section of Pittsburgh in 1969. The characters spend much of their time bickering, pontificating, and expressing conflicting feelings of frustration and aspiration in a series of melodious monologues among the most beautiful and moving Wilson has written.
In the February production Hambone drew the greatest response, drawing gales of laughter every time he bellowed, “I want my ham.”
