In keeping with the weekend's political theme, I highly recommend The Normal Heart, a play that Trish and I caught Sunday afternoon on the Broadway. The first production I'd seen of this play was at a community theatre in Allentown, PA about a hundred years ago while still an undergrad at Muhlenberg. Is it possible I'm old enough to send students to audition there now? I need a drink.
I'm embarrassed to admit that at the time I was bored out of my mind by what seemed like an overly preachy piece of gay theatre filled with a bunch of unlikeable characters. Of course, having lived in NYC for the last - gulp - 18years, I've now met and/or befriended some facsimile of each one of these characters. Moral of the story, every play deserves a second chance, especially if the first "chance" was a community theatre production. Now don't get your panties all in a twist, I've seen some incredibly professional community theatre shows - namely mine (that was a joke, people, lighten up), but I've also seen plenty of shitty ones, and that production falls in the latter category.
I'm embarrassed to admit that at the time I was bored out of my mind by what seemed like an overly preachy piece of gay theatre filled with a bunch of unlikeable characters. Of course, having lived in NYC for the last - gulp - 18years, I've now met and/or befriended some facsimile of each one of these characters. Moral of the story, every play deserves a second chance, especially if the first "chance" was a community theatre production. Now don't get your panties all in a twist, I've seen some incredibly professional community theatre shows - namely mine (that was a joke, people, lighten up), but I've also seen plenty of shitty ones, and that production falls in the latter category.
As the saying goes, it's all in the execution. What had seemed preachy and labored in Allentown, is viscerally exciting and inflammatory in the hands of a gifted director and the current Broadway cast. It doesn't hurt to have hotties Lee Pace and Wayne Wilcox in the cast either. Perhaps in my closeted youth, political activism wasn't yet something I was comfortable accepting, but what a difference twenty years makes. This indictment of the Reagan administration's handling of the AIDS epidemic - or rather how the government chose not to acknowledge the epidemic - is political theatre at its best. In hindsight, it's a wonder anyone's alive and healthy given the facts presented.
I also haven't been to a play - or musical for that matter, and I've seen Next To Normal three times - where the audience was so emotionally wrecked by the curtain call. The two Long Island matinee ladies sitting next to me were passing tissues to each other through the second act and the sniffling and nose blowing by the rest of the audience was almost distractingly constant. It took every ounce of self control I could muster not to totally lose it during the last 10 minutes of the show.
I also haven't been to a play - or musical for that matter, and I've seen Next To Normal three times - where the audience was so emotionally wrecked by the curtain call. The two Long Island matinee ladies sitting next to me were passing tissues to each other through the second act and the sniffling and nose blowing by the rest of the audience was almost distractingly constant. It took every ounce of self control I could muster not to totally lose it during the last 10 minutes of the show.
Regardless of your political assignations, this play is a must-see if only for the central performance of Joe Mantello. Just hand him the "Best Actor" Tony right now. Speaking of the Tonys, I'm very excited about this years nominations - 14 nominations for Book of Mormon, 12 for Scottsboro Boys and 0 for Wonderland. I wonder which show will be closed by July?
The Normal Heart
Golden Theatre, Sunday, May 1
2 PM performance
Oh, Fox News...
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