EdJames...Please Check This Out

[+ Lucky]

Yet another gay play has opened in New York about a hustler. This one is from the creator of Six Feet Under and is reviewed in today's NY Times:

THEATER REVIEW | 'ALL THAT I WILL EVER BE'MORE ON 'All That I Will Ever Be'When Boy Meets Gay Hustler, Some Personal Truths Are Sure to Emerge

 

By CHARLES ISHERWOOD

Published: February 7, 2007

American plays have imparted many a life lesson over the past century. We have learned that attention must be paid to salesmen, for instance, and that depending on the kindness of strangers is not a workable strategy, particularly in New Orleans.

 

Lately a couple of American playwrights have reiterated another sobering apothegm: Don’t fall in love with the gay hustler. It will end in tears.

 

This may be the most salient bit of wisdom to be culled from “All That I Will Ever Be,” a new play by Alan Ball, the creator of HBO’s “Six Feet Under” and the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “American Beauty.” If the advice sounds familiar, that’s probably because Douglas Carter Beane’s Hollywood satire, “The Little Dog Laughed,” which ends its run on Broadway this month, could be said to send the same urgent telegram to the world.

 

Mr. Ball’s play, which opened last night at New York Theater Workshop, follows the exploits of a hustler working the shallows of Los Angeles society. A more self-important morality tale than Mr. Beane’s, it is a slick entry in the sick-soul-of-society genre, concerning the futile search for connection among characters who crave intimacy even as they build cinder-block walls around their damaged hearts.

 

The central character is Omar (Peter Macdissi), who sells phones by day at a chain store and sells himself by night as a hunk of Arabian (or Persian or Greek) exotica. As in “The Little Dog Laughed,” our hero forges an unlikely intimacy with one of his clients after a soul-baring postcoital conversation.

 

Dwight (Austin Lysy) is a young layabout who spends his time getting high and wallowing in anomie. His complacency — and some racist epithets he grunted out (implausibly) during sex — gets under Omar’s skin. Conversation grows testy when Omar refuses to answer Dwight’s casual questions about his background. “I don’t like to reveal things about myself,” he says.

 

Knowingly filling in the blanks, Dwight engages in some instant analysis: “You’re ashamed of your accent,” he says. “Being gay is relatively new to you, you feel very powerful doing this, and the power is the turn-on, not the money. You don’t feel powerful in any other area of your life. You’re not as young as you used to be, and you’re starting to get scared.”

 

Omar responds with his own potted character profile. “You come from money,” he begins. “Your dad made a bundle in, what, TV? Divorced your mom when he got successful, and felt very guilty about it. Now I bet you get a monthly check in return for him not having to spend any time with you, because he hates it that you’re gay.”

 

Despite this hostile exchange, Omar and Dwight eventually begin revealing the truth beneath the half-truths, and filaments of a real connection are forged. But as their intimacy grows, so does Omar’s emotional fragility as the pain of discovering the truth about his place on the Hollywood food chain gnaws at his heart. Compulsively lying about himself to play the roles he’s cut out to play in the social and sexual economy, he has forgotten where he hid his own identity.

 

In scenes depicting this unlikely pair’s evolving friendship, Dwight’s fraught relationship with his father and Omar’s interaction with a girlfriend (Kandiss Edmundson as a would-be Hollywood hotshot who, also implausibly, picks Omar up at his day job), Mr. Ball’s dialogue rings with acerbic commentary about our chronic self-absorption, American decadence and the emptiness of a consumerist culture.

 

The problem is that Mr. Ball’s analyses themselves seem glib, prefabricated and marketed past the point of freshness. They clutter up the play like last season’s leftovers stuffed on sale racks at the Gap. As the play’s eloquently self-aware characters trot out the usual therapy-speak about their issues and the self-protective habit of “avoiding emotional risk,” a running gag comparing Dwight’s world-weary effusions to verbal flatulence strikes a little too close to home.

 

And frankly, given the erratic behavior of Omar, avoiding emotional risk seems a pretty sensible option for anyone in his orbit. Lurching between sensitive confessions of love and angry accusations of exploitation and racism, the character grows increasingly tiresome — ultimately repellent and abusive, in the distasteful last scene — as he insinuates himself into Dwight’s life. Nor is Dwight, with his irony-infused petulance, much more appealing.

 

A more effective performance might give credibility to Omar’s inconsistencies, but Mr. Macdissi’s self-conscious acting fails to win any sympathy for his bruised character. He indicates a change in Omar’s emotional state primarily by raising or lowering his voice, and occasionally garbles his lines.

 

Under the uncharacteristically obvious direction of Jo Bonney, the rest of the actors fare a bit better, particularly Mr. Lysy, who is excellent as the spoiled but yearning rich kid, and David Margulies, who has a single scene as one of Omar’s older clients, wise to the hard knocks of late-life homosexuality. (He awakens Omar to a cruel truth of his profession in a line that appeared almost verbatim in “The Little Dog Laughed”: “Sweetheart, people don’t pay your kind for sex,” he says. “They pay you to leave.”)

 

Mr. Ball has a fondness for exploring the dark currents that trouble contemporary relationships, as anyone who watched “Six Feet Under” well knows. But the intimacies depicted in “All That I Will Ever Be” feel contrived to make his points about the poses people strike to hide their insecurities, and how we lie to one another because we can’t face the truth about ourselves. In the end the play’s soul-searching can be boiled down to a familiar bromide, to wit: honesty is the best policy. Even if you happen to be a gay hustler.

 

ALL THAT I WILL EVER BE

 

By Alan Ball; directed by Jo Bonney; sets by Neil Patel; costumes by Emilio Sosa; lighting by David Lander; sound by Darron L. West; fight choreography by J. Steven White; production stage manager, Larry K. Ash; assistant stage managers, Tom Dooley and Sharika Niles. Presented by the New York Theater Workshop, James C. Nicola, artistic director; Lynn Moffat, managing director. At the New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 239-6200. Through March 11. Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes.

 

WITH: Patch Darragh (White Guy/Bart/Eddie/Waiter), Kandiss Edmundson (Cynthia/Beth), Austin Lysy (Dwight), Peter Macdissi (Omar), David Margulies (Raymond) and Victor Slezak (Chuck Bennett/Phil).

[buzz]

I saw the play opening night and frankly I think Isherwood was trying very hard to be kind. "Contrived" is the word that best sums up the writing. There are powerful moments and the cast is quite good. David Margulies is especially effective as the older man who hires the hustler; he is kind and friendly but when the hustler begs him to let him stays, he says "We don't pay you to stay. We pay you to leave" Then he shuts the door. Wonderfully acted moment. But the play simply doesn't hold together.

[edjames]

Thanks for the heads up on this new production.

 

This other new production came through in this morning's email, which may be of interest to some...

 

BOYS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

Actors Playhouse

7th Ave South @ Bleeker

 

Travel back to the 1980s for this fun-filled evening featuring your favorite hits! When two NYPD detectives—Ralph and Lauren—go undercover at a local Staten Island gay bar, they’re hoping to uncover a drug ring. Instead, Ralph soon finds himself under the covers with Danny, the local heartthrob. And in spite of some disturbing revelations and complications, in time, this unlikely couple may discover their very own happy ending!

 

From the creators of the smash hit My Big Gay Italian Wedding, this uproariously funny romantic comedy was written by Anthony Wilkison & Teresa Anne Cicala , who also co-directs with Sonia Blangiardo .. Featuring a zany cast of characters, retro-cool styles, and the hit songs of the 80s, a night out with the boys has never been so much fun!

 

 

Discount seats are available through Broadwaybox.com

 

Enjoy!

 

ED

[edjames]

This new Terrance McNally production at Second Stages might be a better alternative to "All That I Want."

Second Stage produced the wonderfully funny and brilliantly-acted "The Little Dog Laughed" last season. McNally's "Lisbon Traviata" is one of my all time favorite productions.

 

SOME MEN is Tony Award® winner TERRENCE McNALLY at his best. Often funny and sometimes touching, SOME MEN looks at same-sex life and love against a background of some of the events that shaped the last century.

 

Playwright TERRENCE McNALLY has won four Tony Awards® (for Ragtime, Master Class, Love! Valour! Compassion!, and Kiss of the Spider Woman). His plays include The Stendahl Syndrome, Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams, A Perfect Ganesh, Lips Together Teeth Apart, The Lisbon Traviata, Corpus Christi, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, It's Only a Play, Bad Habits, The Ritz, Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone?, And Things That Go Bump in the Night, Next, and the book for the musicals The Full Monty, A Man of No Importance, Chita Rivera: A Dancer's Life, and The Rink.

 

Director TRIP CULLMAN staged the Second Stage Theatre Uptown production of Adam Bock's Swimming in the Shallows. Other directing credits include Dog Sees God (Century Center for the Performing Arts), Roulette (EST), Smashing (The Play Company) and Dark Matters (Rattlestick).

 

Cast includes DON AMENDOLIA (Stepping Out), KELLY AuCOIN (Julius Caesar), ROMAIN FRUGÉ (The Full Monty), DAVID GREENSPAN (The Boys in the Band), JESSE HOOKER (Amerika), MICHAEL McELROY (Big River), PEDRO PASCAL (Based on a Totally True Story), RANDY REDD (Parade) and FREDERICK WELLER (Take Me Out).

 

 

LIMITED ENGAGEMENT

Only 6 weeks! March 2 - April 15

 

Playbill Members can see SOME MEN for only $42 and save over 35%*

Good for performances March 2 through March 22

 

Second Stage Theatre Box Office, 307 W 43 St.

(just West of 8th Ave), Box Office/Phone Hours: Mon-Sat 10-7 / Sun 10-3.

 

Check Playbill.com for discount seats.

[+ Lucky]

RE: Vegas Guys...Please Check This Out

 

Unless Ed is going to Vegas, he can't check this out, but a concert version of Jerry Springer: The Opera is being performed there this month:

 

Jerry Springer the Opera Gets Vegas Concert, March 17, 18

 

Thursday, March 1, 2007; Posted: 9:01 AM - by BWW News Desk

 

Having played London and taken in numerous awards, including the Olivier Award for Best Musical, "Jerry Springer the Opera" is finally coming to America. The musical will preview on March 17 and 18, performed concert-style at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as a benefit for Las Vegas-based HIV/AIDS charity Golden Rainbow.

 

Bringing the preview to America is Suzanne Childers, owner of Las Vegas-based Choozi Entertainment, in partnership with Michael Brennan, Music Director for the Las Vegas production of "Mamma Mia." The pair was granted the license to produce the concert version of "Jerry Springer the Opera," which was originally produced by Avalon in London.

 

The show is staged in the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre. Show time is 1 p.m. each day and stars performers from "Folies Bergere," Jubilee!", "Mamma Mia" and "Phantom of the Opera." Artie Anderson, whose acting credits include "8 Simple Rules," "Home Improvement," "The Bold and the Beautiful" and "3 rd Rock from the Sun" will lead the cast as Jerry Springer.

 

The concert version will feature minimal staging to emphasize the music. Childers said, "I want the audience to have the same reaction to the music that I did when I first heard it. I was bowled over by the brilliance of the writing, especially the European operatic music references used to assimilate dialogue, subtle and not-so-subtle." Two choreographed numbers will remain intact, with the addition of a line of tap dancers, choreographed by Childers.

 

Brennan, formerly Music Director for "Avenue Q," is the show's vocal director. An eight-piece orchestra is conducted by Jack Gaughan, Orchestra Director for "Phantom of the Opera."

 

"It is an operatic restaging of The Jerry Springer Show, where people confess to an assortment of infidelities and guilty secrets in front of outraged partners and a vocal studio audience. In the second act, Springer finds himself in a hell of his own making, and is called upon to effect a reconciliation between the two ultimate adversaries - Jesus and Satan," state press notes.

 

With music by Richard Thomas and book and lyrics by Stewart Lee and Richard Thomas, this musical is based on the television show The Jerry Springer Show. The show was originally created as a one-man show by Richard Thomas, How To Write An Opera About Jerry Springer, and performed at London's Battersea Arts Center in February 2001. It was expanded and performed in concert at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2002. It was a critical success selling to packed houses in a 750-seat venue. The first fully staged production of the opera was performed at the National Theatre in London on April 29, 2003. It was a major success, also playing to packed houses, and received extremely favorable reviews. It moved to the West End and opened at the Cambridge Theatre on November 10, 2003, where it won the 2004 Olivier for Best Musical.

 

Technically directing the Las Vegas production is Ray Gin, Production Stage Manager for "Phantom of the Opera." His team

includes technical artists from "Le Reve," "Mamma Mia" and "Phantom of the Opera."

 

Tickets are $75, $50 and $30 and are available now through the Golden Rainbow office at (702) 384-2899.

 

Founded in 1987, Golden Rainbow strives to provide housing and direct financial assistance to the men, women, children and families living with HIV/AIDS in Southern Nevada. Golden Rainbow also supports HIV/AIDS-related education, and is a recognized Nevada non-profit organization. For information, visit http://www.GoldenRainbow.org.