The Most Loving Mother of All Time

"The New Century" presented by Lincoln Center Theatre at the Mitzi Newhouse Theatre, April 9, 2008

Paul Rudnick's latest outing is a collection of four one-acts. He opens with the first of the four one-acts in the evening in "Pride and Joy," expanding on a character that originated in his earlier play "Jeffrey," Mrs. Marcangelo. Now named Helene Nadler and played without apology by Linda Lavin, she is the self-proclaimed "...most tolerant and accepting mother...EVER!!" Ms. Lavin, whose hair has been bleached platinum to the point of blisters in her part and dolled up in Long Island designer drag, is speaking to a parental support group - the PLGTBCCC&O - PFLAG on steroids, it would seem. She recounts how each of her three children came out to her - Leslie the lesbian ("Leslie, what was I thinking?"); Ronnie, the lesbian transgendered Veronica ("For what we spent on hormones, I could have had a new kitchen."); and David, who is gay and into leather as well as a number of initialed interests beyond BDSM ("In this house we use a toilet, not a friend from Tribeca.") She expands a bit on each. Leslie and her partner, who announced their commitment in the paper with a photo ("...Dennis the Menace marries Opie...") are having a baby. Wanting the child to be the ultimate symbol of diversity, they've combined donors of Ethiopian, Vietnamese and Hispanic origin ("Why not just have them add it to the menus they slip under the door?").

"Pride and Joy" is the most successful act of the evening, sold purely on the skill and delivery of Ms. Lavin. She professes her love like a fencer with an epee in a masterful performance.

In "Mr. Charles, Currently of Palm Beach," Peter Bartlett gets stuck with 20+ minutes of stereotype as Mr. Charles in the form of a bare bones public access TV show called "Too Gay" which airs at 3am, once a week. It borders on offensive, but only when it strays from pointless. He does get a clever 60-second history of gay theatre, punctuated by the mention of gratuitous male frontal nudity, both verbally and literally (Shane, played by Mike Doyle, who makes a full tour of the stage perimeter in the altogether.

Jayne Houdyshell greets us next as Barbara Ellen Diggs in "Crafty." Her Mrs. Diggs seems to have suffered from agoraphobia before discovering crafting. Now she's found her purpose in life and travels the country to glamorous spots like the conference room in a municipal building in Decatur, Illinois. She's there to deliver a talk on the importance of crafts in our community. Oh, and her son Hank died of AIDS. She made a square for the AIDS quilt. ("It looks like a cemetery by the Ladies Home Journal.) She came to NYC for the first time after Hank's death during The Gates exhibition in Central Park by Jeanne Claude and Christo. ("...like a county fair at a graduate school...[my friend] Susan said I'd found closure. I said 'Susan, Oprah is just a person.'") This was the first time I had seen Ms. Houdyshell perform. I was anxious to see her following the recognition she'd received in "Well" on Broadway (2006 Tony nomination) and last season's "The Receptionist" at Manhattan Theatre Club. I wish she'd had better material.

Finally all four characters come crashing back together, inexplicably, in the the maternity ward in New York where Leslie has just given birth. The most loving mother is now the most loving grandmother. Mr. Charles and Shane have snuck into town...I can't remember why. And, for some reason, Mr. Charles has chosen to take some time to turn the children in the ward gay through the viewing window. Mrs. Diggs has fallen down in the street and hurt her leg outside Madison Square Garden where she's competing in a cat clothing contest.

Director Nicholas Martin seems to have done best by standing out of the way to let Ms. Lavin and Ms. Houdyshell do what they do best. He's made a valiant effort with Mr. Charles, but I'm not sure if anyone could have done any better, although I think the dance number finale was particularly anti-climatic.

Allen Moyer's sets are functional, as is Kenneth Posner's lighting. William Ivey Long's costumes are typically spot-on from Helene's high-end schmatta to Mr. Charles' upholstery-coordinated ensembles to Mrs. Diggs' polyester ("[worn] without irony.").

Who's Getting Married in the Morning?

"Regrets Only" presented by the Manhattan Theatre Club at City Center, January 9, 2007

(Spoiler Alert)

Paul Rudnick's new play asks a rather pertinent question, given the current these days on gay marriage in the US: What would happen if every gay and lesbian took the day off?

As confrontational as that sounds, Mr. Rudnick uses the upper crust of NYC society to set up events leading to just that.

Hank Hadley (George Grizzard) is a world-class clothing designer. He arrives at the top of the show to pick up his dear friend Tibby McCullough (Christine Baransky) to resume their tour of society parties and events. Hank's "longtime companion" of 38 years, Michael, has recently died and Tibby is anxious to get Hank back into life. Tibby's husband Jack (David Rasche) and daughter Spencer (Diane Davis) arrive in short order, both with exciting announcements. Spencer is getting married and Jack has been asked to come to Washington to work on a new constitutional amendment which would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. This is what sets off Hank, that his best friends would take on a project that overtly discriminates against him.

If all this sounds a little serious and even dark, remember that it's written by Paul Rudnick. Every character, including Myra the Jewish maid, the only one in NY (Jackie Hoffman) gets at least a couple of bon mots to toss out from time to time. Spencer gets one of the first when reflecting on her pending nuptials "...because I'm a lawyer, I can write my own pre-nup." As the topic moves to something more important to this group, that of the dress, Hank is immediately commissioned. During this discussion, Hank gets in a number of pokes at some of the more current popular designers. On Donna Karan: "You should have Donna do your gown. Then you can wear it to work." On Vera Wang: "...always perfect, because they're always the same." On Ralph Lauren: "...love the little embroidered polo players that he puts on everything. Did you know that's really a portrait of him - life size?" Myra gets her own jab in here, when Hank is reminded that he'd done one of Nancy Reagan's inaugural gowns, "... a 98 pound , sun-damaged, 64 year old woman in a strapless gown. Your country thanks you!"

Hank does come back to life by casually organizing a gay strike the day before Spencer's wedding. No service organization, from caterers to florists to Hank's design studio are open and those depending on them are unhinged. Marietta had gone to Hank's for her final gown fitting and was abandoned unclothed. Improvising an outfit of garbage bags and shoe boxes, she runs into a friend on the street who asked, "Prada?" When Spencer's fiance goes missing the same day, Marietta offers: "There is no shame in marrying a gay man as long as he went to a good school." (Tibby responds: "That's true.")

Ms. Baransky returns to NY after a praised run of "Mame" at the Kennedy Center last year. Her Tibby is a graceful, empathetic, thoughtful "rich white woman." She wears the wounds of a girl whose teenaged bout with anorexia was praised by her own mother, but does so with style and panache.

Mr. Rache's Jack is a proper foil to Ms. Baranky's Tibby, handsome, well-dressed, well-educated, well-mannered, but falls a bit into stereotype as a man whose supposed self-awareness covers his lack of it. He says all the right things, but only because he's fallen into the timing of Hank and Tibby's conversations, not their subtext.

As Spencer, Ms. Davis makes one of the most frenetic entrances I've seen onstage. She's truly the product of her parents' contradictions. Ms. Phillips' Marietta is rather two-dimensional, coming across in appearance as a poor man's Marlena Dietrich.

Jackie Hoffman's Myra gets to have the most fun in this show, popping in and out with a world (literally) of accents, tossing verbal hand grenades with each exit.

As Hank, Mr. Grizzard captures the poise and elegance of the premiere designer. His contained grief is touching as he asks Tibby not to spout the platitudes usually bestowed on the grieving, which of course, she can't help but get at least one out. His polite discomfort masks his outrage as Jack announces his plan to help with the marriage amendment.

Michael Yeargin's NY apartment set is just terrific. Contemporary without looking overtly modern, he uses warm tones that serve as a neutral background for the color in the dialogue. William Ivey Long is perfectly in his element with some gorgeous gowns, particularly Tibby's first act red beaded and strapless sheath with a short train. (It doesn't hurt to have an actress with Ms. Baransky's body either.) I was slightly disappointed with Spencer's wedding gown. I found it didn't quite have that unique flair that I would have expected a "Hank Hadley original" would demonstrate.

Overall it's quite a fun show, lots of laughs. I think the political jabs are singing to the choir, though. It plays very well in NYC. I'll be interested to see how it travels to other productions across the country.