Beware the Pickleman

It's embarrassing--copping to the fact that the 1988 movie version of Crossing Delancey is something of a guilty pleasure for me. Amy Irving gives a wooden performance as Izzy, a thoroughly modern New York single who feels the pull of her Jewish roots as she navigates romantically between an egotistical author (as if they are in short supply) and an authentic Lower East Side pickle salesman. Irving is beset by her bubbie (grandma for the ethnically challenged) and the local matchmaker who, not surprisingly, enlist and encourage the neighborhood pickle man, who gladly gives pursuit. Will she pick modernity over antiquity? A sophisticated writer over a sour-smelling pickle man? Oy, such tzorus (pain). The culture clash is a shopworn dramatic vehicle and yet the story works its charm as a sort of Fiddler on the Roof: The Next Generation. But it shouldn't be much of a stretch to best Irving's performance in the stage version of Crossing Delancey, which is being presented by Grapevine's Runway Theatre, 215 Dooley St., for a two-week run through February 15. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays. Call 817-488-4842 or visit runwaytheatre.com.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Starts: Jan. 30. Continues through Feb. 15, 2009