‘Casa Valentina’: Cross Dressing in the Catskills

I FEEL PRETTY: (left to right) Nick Westrate, John Cullum, Gabriel Ebert & Tom McGowan in ‘Casa Valentina.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

CASA VALENTINA
By Harvey Fierstein
Based on the book Casa Susanna by Michel Hurst and Robert Swope
Directed by Joe Mantello
Manhattan Theatre Club
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200), www.casavalentinabroadway.com

By Scott Harrah

Anyone coming to Harvey Fierstein’s Casa Valentina and expecting another version of The Boys in the Band or Love! Valour! Compassion!, where the boys are having another bitchfest or camping in the woods, is in for a surprise. Yes, there are boys (or should we say men?), there is a bitchfest and there is camp, but for totally different reasons. These are not gay men on a weekend get-together, but straight men wanting to let down their hair and don their wigs and just allow their feminine side to take over.

The story is set in 1962, when a straight, married man with children who liked the idea of cross dressing was considered an abomination or worse yet, a homosexual. There is a lot of thought-provoking, untouched territory in this play. This is not about drag queens or gender bending but the inexplicable desire of men wanting to wear women’s clothing, and each one with his own reason. Some are adjusted to the idea and others live in shame as what it would do to them or if the family ever found out. For some, they don’t know why they have the need to do it.

Recently, Broadway has depicted nearly every modern version of what makes up the acronym LGBT, from Hedwig and the Angry Inch (a transgender) to Mothers and Sons (married gay men with children) to last season’s hit musical, Kinky Boots (drag queens).  Now, Harvey Fierstein, one year after penning the Tony-nominated book to Kinky Boots, explores a phenomenon that does not fall into the LGBT category at all:  heterosexual cross dressers.  No, it’s not some sensationalized tabloid story. Here, it is based on a true story of men that were part of a secret society, congregating in a remote Catskills resort, before feminism, Civil Rights and Stonewall, at a time when anyone who was not white, strait-laced, heterosexual and followed traditional gender-role rules in America faced harassment from the establishment, the U.S. government and the police.

Mr. Fierstein, who knows a thing or two about depicting the many facets of androgyny on the Broadway stage, adapts this provocative drama from the 2005 book Casa Susanna, a photo-filled chronicle of a haven for cross-dressing heterosexual men in the 1950s and 1960s, originally called the Chevalier d’Eon resort in Hunter, NY.

George (Patrick Page), whose female alter ego is Valentina, owns the Chevalier d’Eon with wife, Rita (Mare Winningham).  As the story unfolds, George/Valentina and Rita prepare for another summer weekend at the resort while facing the reality that they cannot keep up with the mortgage and the place may fold by fall.  There is also another crisis looming, and without divulging too much of the plot, there are threats against the very existence of the resort and its clientele, and they may soon have to go public and declare that no member is a homosexual or risk everything personally and legally in their lives.

Much of the first act introduces us to the many men who wish to “pass” as women:  Newcomer Jonathan/Miranda (Gabriel Ebert); the rotund, Oscar Wilde-quoting Bessie (Tom McGowan); and the heterosexual cross-dressing activist Charlotte (Reed Birney), the one George is counting on for a loan to bail out the place from foreclosure.  Charlotte tells everyone that, in order to legitimize the place and keep the police away, all must agree to let this paradise of privacy become a nonprofit “sorority” and sign an affidavit banning homosexuals entirely from Chevalier d’Eon.  At first, this makes sense to the men since all are straight, but what if just one of the “girls” is not?  Would it be ethical to exclude anyone?

Rounding out the ensemble are the elegant, wisecracking Gloria (Nick Westrate); and the two older “ladies” of the club, Terry (John Cullum) and Amy (Larry Pine), a respected judge nearing retirement.

There are many stories here, making up the various subplots, but the most compelling here include the challenges that show the strength of George and Rita’s marriage, and how a rundown but idyllic paradise that has served as a haven for these women for years can be overturned by a threat and blackmail in the course of an evening.

Structurally, this is Mr. Fierstein’s most solid drama to date, but problems abound in some of the dialogue choices, which are not always true to the era in which the story is set.  Did people say things like “newbie” and “I’ve got your back” in the early 1960s?  In the first act, the banter is crackling and effervescent, but by the second, things descend into the melodramatic.

However, it is truly fascinating to watch the way Mr. Fierstein depicts how themes of gender roles and societal expectations oppressed people in mid-20th century America, and just how much things have changed since then. With the abundance of such rich material, one can’t help but wonder if Mr. Fierstein approached it all the right way.

What is truly captivating is the manner in which director Joe Mantello helps extract the season’s most distinct and richly textured performances from the cast.  Mare Winningham’s Rita and Patrick Page’s George/Valentina both create a natural, realistic portrayal of a troubled but loving married couple, and is particularly noteworthy. Other highlights include Tom McGowan’s jolly, wisecracking Bessie and Reed Birney’s determined, elegant Charlotte, a crusader who is also quite chic and can “pass” for a real lady.

Some of the most haunting interpretations here are by the elder “ladies,” Terry and Amy, played respectively by stage veterans John Cullum and Larry Pine.  Visually, this is a handsomely packaged production, from Scott Pask’s gorgeous sets to Rita Ryack’s appealing period costumes and hair, wig and make-up design by Jason P. Hayes.

Unfortunately, Mr. Fierstein spends a bit too much of the show having the “girls” deliver half-baked punch lines and puns, often reeking of the moldy, contrived sentimentality that was a problem in his earlier works.  In Casa Valentina, it is a pity there is not more straightforward dialogue because it is necessary to underscore the magnitude and historical significance of the characters’ unfulfilled desires and the hostile society of the bygone times in which they lived. Did Mr. Fierstein have to insert all those tired jokes that are in all his shows? Couldn’t he have let the seriousness of the subject matter just speak for itself?

UNCONVENTIONAL WIFE & HUSBAND: Mare Winningham & Patrick Page in ‘Casa Valentina.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

Nominated for 4 Tony Awards including: Best Drama, Best Dramatic Supporting Actor; Reed Bierney, Best Dramatic Supporting Actress; Mare Winningham and Costumes.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 27, 2014
Reviewed at press performance on April 26, 2014