Dada Woof Papa Hot & Steve

[edjames]

I saw two plays this week with common themes this week and so I thought it easiest to combine my thoughts and resent them as one thread.

 

The first, now at Lincoln Center theater is Dad Woof Papa Hot. The play centers on 2 gay couples. Rob , a therapist, married to Alan, a journalist and they have a 3 year daughter, Nicola. They have recently become acquainted with a younger gay couple, Scott, who works in private equity, and his partner Jason, a painter. They have 2 young sons.

Over dinner one night with their straight friends Michace and Serena, the conversation turns to Nicola's favoritism for Rob, over her older father, Alan. Alan finds it disturbing and it is revealed that he is not biologically related to Nicola.

Michael is having an affair with another woman and the topic turns to the "fidelity gene."

Over a chance meeting at the school drop off Alan and Jason go back to Alan's place for coffee and a quick roll in the hay which further complicates matters. Jason, it seems is a sex addict and has been having a go at almost everyone.(It is here that I ask you to take note that Jason goes full frontal but given the seating at the Mitzi Newhouse, depending on where you sit you either get full frontal or full rear. alas, my seat was full rear, but not a bad view. LOL)

And, so, we have come to the new gay theater topic...gay marriage and gay fathers. Long gone is the angst and drama of those queens around the table at Hal's birthday party in Mart Crowley's Boys In The Band or all those closeted tortured souls in almost every Tennessee Williams play. No, now we are dealing with play dates, nannies and shockingly(!) gay marriage fidelity.

I can't say I loved this play. It was well done but in the end I really thought to myself "Do I really like these people." Alas I'd turn down the dinner invite.

1 hour 45 minutes, no intermission.

 

Again, the subject of gay marriage, gay fathers, and fidelity is the central to the theme of "Steve," off-Broadway at the Signature theater. Although, this time I have to say I enjoyed this production more than Dad Woof. For example, when you enter the theater, actor, Malcolm Gets, is playing show tunes at an upright piano. He is soon joined by his fellow castmates who perform a number of Broadway classic show tunes. The show is peppered with caustic theater biz lines skewering such notables as Kristin Chenowith, Anne Hathaway, and others. However, underneath all this acerbic gay humor is the story of two gay married couples and their dying lesbian friend. There are actually 4 Steve's in the play, one of whom we never see (alas, he;s the one who supposedly has the biggest cock!). 90 minutes, no intermission.

 

i saw both productions on discounted tickets, so my investment was no expensive.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/10/theater/review-dada-woof-papa-hot-about-gay-men-and-parenthood.html?ref=theater

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/theater/review-in-steve-contemplating-middle-age-and-monogamy.html

[bostonman]

...but in the end I really thought to myself "Do I really like these people." Alas I'd turn down the dinner invite

 

I can't even get past the title. Dada Woof Papa Hot??? Really unappetizing title, IMO.

[uwsman2]

Seeing it this Sunday. The Times review leads me to believe it will be interesting.

[+ beethoven]

I saw Dada Woof Papa Hot tonite, and enjoyed it very much. I can see why some would not, as the resolution is not all that satisfactory -- or will not be to some viewers. Though I'm not married and don't have children, I can easily understand the problems these couples have -- not that I approve of what they do. But I recommend the play, which is very well acted, and I could identify with all the characters. I can see why Edjames says, "Do I really like these people?" But do we really like everyone we encounter?

I'm seeing "Steve" later this week. Stay tuned.

[MrMiniver]

I can't even get past the title. Dada Woof Papa Hot??? Really unappetizing title, IMO.

 

I know what you mean. I wonder sometimes if they go out of their way to come up with awful off-putting titles. I refused to go see URINETOWN because just hearing the title made me want to go pee.

 

I'm curious about the shows, however.

[+ beethoven]

The title, "Dada Woof, Papa Hot" merely refers to one humorous line in the show, about the first four words learned by a toddler. Woof was her way of saying "dog," and hot was her way of saying "stove," or "pepper," I forget which. "Dada" and "Papa" were her names for her two male parents. It has nothing to do with the theme of the play, and I guess the author didn't want to give it a stuffy title like "Love and Responsibility," which is what the show is about. (Was "The Sun Also Rises" about a weather forecaster? Was the Night really Tender? :-))

[+ beethoven]

I saw "Steve" last night. Definitely worth your attention. I didn't like it as much as Ben Brantley did, but I rarely like things as much as Mr. B does, who is often over the top, IMHO. Directed by Cynthia Nixon, who has really done something with an already interesting play.

This was the second production of this season by the New Group, whose first was "Mercury Fur," one of the worst pieces of dreck that I have ever been subjected to. I walked out. That's why I don't buy subscriptions -- until this year.

Glad to say that the New Group has redeemed itself with "Steve!" Sam Shepard's "Buried Child" is their next play.

[MrMiniver]

I saw "Steve" last night. Definitely worth your attention. I didn't like it as much as Ben Brantley did, but I rarely like things as much as Mr. B does, who is often over the top, IMHO. Directed by Cynthia Nixon, who has really done something with an already interesting play.

This was the second production of this season by the New Group, whose first was "Mercury Fur," one of the worst pieces of dreck that I have ever been subjected to. I walked out. That's why I don't buy subscriptions -- until this year.

Glad to say that the New Group has redeemed itself with "Steve!" Sam Shepard's "Buried Child" is their next play.

 

Ben Brantley is a fool. Terry Teachout and Michael Riedel are far superior reviewers, among others.

[RyanDean]

It might be hairsplitting, MrM, but since you're not shy about doing same...

 

Riedel would be the first to tell you he's not a reviewer/critic.

Riedel is a columnist (arguably the last among the great NY newspaper theatre columnists) who is not at all shy about offering his direct opinions about shows he has (and, sometimes more notably, has not) seen.

[MrMiniver]

It might be hairsplitting, MrM, but since you're not shy about doing same...

 

Riedel would be the first to tell you he's not a reviewer/critic.

Riedel is a columnist (arguably the last among the great NY newspaper theatre columnists) who is not at all shy about offering his direct opinions about shows he has (and, sometimes more notably, has not) seen.

 

That's true, technically speaking. I'd still rather listen to his opinion than the pompous Brantley.