Clemenza & Tessio Are Dead

Playwright (and producer) Gregg Greenberg must have had a lot of fun writing “Clemenza & Tessio Are Dead.” After all, he got to satirize “The Godfather” and compare two of Mario Puzo’s minor characters to Tom Stoppard’s 1967 take on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from “Hamlet.” Unfortunately, neither the parody nor the parallel is sufficiently audience-friendly to sustain a 90-minute play (with intermission).

The Puzo property has been much satirized over the past 40 years, and its subplot to “off” the Mafia prince (Sonny Corleone), executed in part by the two secondary players Clemenza and Tessio, gains little in insight or humor from its comparison to the even more ambiguous involvement of the Prince of Denmark’s old school chums in his demise. Further, while some of Stoppard’s humor derives from his characters’ Tweedledee and Tweedledum personalities, Greenberg seems at great pains to emphasize the different aspects of his two leads. Clemenza thinks he’s smart and entitled to power after the Don’s death. Tessio knows that he’s terminally dim and is uncertain of his future with the Family.

Director Frank Senger should have told actor Frank Senger, as Clemenza, that bellowing most of his lines doesn’t make him even more of a buffoon than we already know he is. Anthony Gallo’s more nuanced performance and grim gangsterish aspect make him a more convincing Cosa Nostra underling. The versatility award among the three-member cast easily goes to Troy Dane, who plays a Brando-inflected Don Corleone, his sons Fredo and Michael (the latter mercifully minus Pacino-isms), a newsboy, Luca Brasi, and Mrs. Clemenza (audio only from offstage).

Production values (Nick Tochelli) are virtually nonexistent, despite 14 scenes in the play. The set consists of a small tea/telephone table and two straight chairs; the props are a telephone, two glasses, and a bottle of Scotch. We knew that Clemenza and Tessio were going to “go to the mattresses” at some point to avoid being killed. But who knew they’d consist of a blue knitted afghan and a beige chenille bedspread? Would that the rest of the play was even that funny.

Presented by Gregg Greenberg at the Shell Theater, 300 W. 43rd St., 3rd floor, NYC. Dec. 2–19. Thu.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (212) 868-4444 or www.smarttix.com.