‘CULT OF LOVE’: (left to right) Christopher Sears, Barbie Ferreira, Roberta Colindrez, Mare Winningham, Zachary Quinto, David Rasche, Shailene Woodley & Rebecca Henderson. Photo: Joan Marcus.

CULT OF LOVE
Written by Leslye Headland
Directed by Trip Cullman
Through February 2, 2025
Second Stage
The Helen Hayes Theater
240 W. 44^th Street
https://2st.com/shows/cult-of-love

By Scott Harrah

Opening just in time for the holidays, playwright Leslye Headland’s Cult of Love is a one act that features all the formulaic elements of a dysfunctional family: arguments about religion, career and marital problems, strained relationships, homophobia, drug abuse, mental illness, and so on. Although the 100-minute play does not exactly shed new light on these issues when they appear in “toxic” families, the trenchant performances of the all-star cast in this fine production, directed by Trip Cullman, make us forget the familiar themes. Just sit back and watch the family fireworks explode.

The story focuses on four adult siblings who return to their parents’ farmhouse in Connecticut for Christmas. Home might be “where the heart is” for some, but in the Dahl family, it’s where the hurt is. Ginny Dahl (Mare Winningham) is the manipulative matriarch who pretends that there’s nothing wrong with the family. Father Bill Dahl (David Rasche) appears sweet on the surface. He loves to play the piano and reminisce about the days when all four kids were young and used to sing “Shenandoah” like a saccharine, American version of the Von Trapp family in The Sound of Music. However, Bill is having memory issues and it’s becoming obvious he might be developing dementia.

The Dahl kids

Each one of the Dahl children has an issue that the parents either cannot accept or try to ignore. Mark (Zachary Quinto) went to Yale and was a seminary student but decided to become a lawyer instead. His marriage and career are not in great shape. He is also no longer a Christian—something that does not thrill his evangelical parents. His wife Rachel (Molly Bernard) converted to Christianity when she married him.

Evie Dahl (Rebecca Henderson) is a chef who shuns her religious upbringing. She is also an out-and-proud lesbian, married to wife Pippa (Roberta Colindrez). Diana Dahl Bennett (Shailene Woodley) is a pregnant Jesus freak who has struggled with mental-health problems since childhood. She and her preacher husband James (Christopher Lowell) are temporarily living with Evie’s parents after being forced out of their church.

Everyone is waiting for Johnny Dahl (Christopher Sears) to show up on Christmas Even so they can dig into a roast lamb. Johnny is a recovering drug addict and eventually arrives late with his friend Loren (Barbie Ferreira), a fun-loving free spirit who is refreshingly level-headed and not amused by the discord of the Dahl family.

The Dahls have always played music together, from banjo and guitar to the kazoo. Watching them all jamming and singing together gives the show the right amount of levity to help neutralize the dark tone of gloom and tension that runs throughout the narrative.

Stellar cast

Despite the lugubrious nature of this sometimes-predictable drama, Cult of Love is worth seeing primarily thanks to the brilliant cast. Director Trip Cullman gets superb performances from everyone. Mare Winningham is marvelous as the crafty, unpleasant mother Ginny, and David Rasche also shines as her husband Bill. Zachary Quinto does a great job portraying the brooding Mark, and Christopher Sears is also first-rate as Johnny.

The female cast members are all outstanding.  Rebecca Henderson is often touching as Evie, while Shailene Woodley is riveting and shows incredible range as Diana, the Bible-thumping daughter who goes from sweet and annoying to downright disturbing when she has a meltdown. Molly Bernard as Rachel, Roberta Colindrez as Evie’s out-of-place wife Pippa and Barbie Ferreira as Loren are all sublime in their supporting roles.

Cult of Love is hardly average Broadway holiday fare. Playwright Leslye Headland skillfully dissects and destroys the myth of “happy” families who demand loyalty without truly knowing how to love and accept one’s kin despite their individual quirks and flaws.

Published December 19, 2024
Reviewed at press performance on December 17, 2024

‘CULT OF LOVE’: (left to right) Shailene Woodley, Christopher Sears, Rebecca Henderson & Zachary Quinto. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CULT OF LOVE’: (left to right) Zachary Quinto, Mare Winningham, Shailene Woodley & David Rasche. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CULT OF LOVE’: Zachary Quinto & Shailene Woodley. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CULT OF LOVE’: (left to right) Zachary Quinto, Molly Bernard & Chris Lowell. Photo: Joan Marcus.

The post ‘Cult of Love’: Dysfunctional family Christmas appeared first on StageZine.

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: (left to right) Robin de Jesus, Michael Benjamin Washington, Andrew Rannells & Jim Parsons. Photo: Joan Marcus

THE BOYS IN THE BAND
Written by Mart Crowley
Directed by Joe Mantello
Through August 11, 2018
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212) 239-6200, http://boysintheband.com/

By Scott Harrah

My first encounter with Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band was back in college, decades after it was originally produced in 1968. I read the play one evening in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down because I’d never read anything that had so many gay-male characters, speaking in such crisp, rapid-fire bitchy dialogue.  As engrossing as the play was to me in my early 20s, I also found it completely offensive, particularly the lead character Michael, a reprehensible man who is full of self-loathing and makes racist and anti-Semitic comments and jokes to his friends. Seeing the show in its first-ever Broadway revival, with a stellar cast under Joe Mantello’s tight direction, has taken much of the insolent sting out of Mr. Crowley’s classic.

It’s still a flawed play, dated and inherently off-putting by 21^st century standards, but if one looks beyond the now “politically incorrect” content, the show remains a curious masterpiece, and was groundbreaking for being the first drama to show a microcosm of the gay-male subculture. Before Boys, gay men were mostly portrayed in films for comic relief as effeminate, stereotypical characters (hairdressers, florists, interior designers, etc.). As a vehicle for Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Robin de Jesus (all openly gay, by the way) and others, this ebullient revival is certainly an event. For millennials and anyone too young to remember the dark days of gay life before and after Stonewall and the horror of the AIDS pandemic, it is an historical reminder of how far gay men have progressed.

The plot revolves around Michael (Jim Parsons), an unemployed writer who somehow can afford a posh, two-level Upper East Side Manhattan apartment (David Zinn’s scenic design is gorgeous, but seems too modern for the 1960s). Michael is a high-strung, well-educated man from the South and was raised in an affluent Catholic family. As the story opens, he’s preparing to host a 32^nd birthday party for his friend Harold (Zachary Quinto), a man he derisively refers to as a “pock-marked Jew.” His friend Donald (Matt Bomer), an easygoing “underachiever,” arrives after a canceled session with his therapist and is helping Michael with party preparations. The phone rings and Michael learns his supposedly straight college roommate from Georgetown, Alan (Brian Hutchison), is in tears and desperately needs to see him. Michael hesitantly invites his old friend over.

Guests start arriving. There is Emory (Robin de Jesus), the swishy interior decorator; “Cowboy” (Charlie Carver), a mentally vapid, pretty-boy blond male hustler and Emory’s “birthday present” for Harold; Hank (Tuc Watkins), a schoolteacher in the process of divorcing his wife; Hank’s lover, Larry (Andrew Rannells), a fashion photographer with monogamy issues; and Bernard (Michael Benjamin Washington), a bookstore clerk, the only African-American in the group and the butt of many cruel, unfunny racist jokes and “n” word slurs by Michael.

The play has been referred to as an anachronistic “Auntie Tom” story for gays because it depicts gay men as victims of both society and their own self-abasement.  Granted, Boys was written in an era when most gay men had no choice but to stay in the closet, but have supposedly close friends (gay or straight) of any time period ever been so vicious to each other? Then again, the premise of friends being catty to each other is the foundation of all the puerile, sophomoric TV reality shows nowadays, so in that sense The Boys in the Band was decades ahead of its time.

As the drinks flow, the guys’ true feelings come out and one of the narrative highlights is a “truth” game and Michael insists that each guest pick up the telephone and call someone from the past or present to proclaim their love. Painful secrets and pathos are revealed with each telephone call, but discussing them further would spoil much of the story.

Joe Mantello directs the amazing ensemble of actors beautifully, but the biggest disappointment is Jim Parsons as Michael. Mr. Parsons, a TV superstar in his own right as nerdy genius Sheldon Cooper on the megahit series “The Big Bang Theory,” is no stranger to the Broadway stage, appearing in everything from winning revivals of Harvey and The Normal Heart to the lead in An Act of God. Unfortunately, Mr. Parsons is miscast as Michael, because he exudes too much charisma and likability for the despicable character of Michael. Michael is a man who says mean-spirited, repulsive things like “Oh, you really gotta figger, it’s tough to be a n****r, but it’s tougher to be a Jew” and self-deprecating zingers such as “You show me a happy homosexual and I’ll show you a gay corpse.”  However, Mr. Parsons is too charming, guileless and—dare I say it?—too much like TV’s Sheldon Cooper when he should simply be vile. As Harold himself says, “Michael doesn’t have charm. He has counter-charm.”

Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesus, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington and Tuc Watkins are all outstanding. This production’s biggest standout is Zachary Quinto as Harold. Mr. Quinto, first known for playing Spock in several Star Trek film sequels, is also a Broadway stage veteran, but here he gives one of his most memorable live performances ever. Although Mr. Quinto is perhaps too handsome for the role of Harold, he is nonetheless a revelation of wit and venom in his tinted glasses and outrageous mod 1960s garb, delivering his acerbic lines with zeal. However, in this case, he would have had greater impact on the show had he played the character of Michael. One can imagine how great he might have been in the role. Perhaps he might have evened out this production a bit and given Michael the hateful edge that’s necessary for the part.

Some have said that, without The Boys in the Band, there would never have been Angels in America and the countless gay-themed plays that followed, such as Terrence McNally’s Love! Valour! Compassion! Love it or dismiss it, Mart Crowley’s 50-year-old drama shows the dark, unsettling roots of LGBT life in the 1960s, and there is certainly a lot to ponder with these complicated “boys” back in town on the Broadway stage.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published May 31, 2018

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: Jim Parsons (left) & Zachary Quinto. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: Jim Parsons & Matt Bomer. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’:Zachary Quinto & Charlie Carver. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: Matt Bomer (left) & Jim Parsons. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: The cast facing Brian Hutchison. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: (left to right) Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington & Matt Bomer. Photo: Joan Marcus

The post ‘The Boys in the Band’: Gay culture’s dark past appeared first on StageZine.

BLOW OUT YOUR CANDLES, LAURA: Celia Keenan-Bolger meets ‘gentleman caller’ Brian J. Smith in ‘The Glass Menagerie.’ Photo: Michael J. Lutch

THE GLASS MENAGERIE
By Tennessee Williams
Directed by John Tiffany
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(800) 447-7400, http://theglassmenageriebroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

Note to any producers in the future, thinking about a Broadway revival of an American classic:  This is how it’s done.  Tennessee Williams’ first play is also his most delicate, and some might argue, surprisingly accessible.  This epic of a St. Louis family in the 1930s has none of the vivacity of his later plays, but its simplicity makes it particularly heartbreaking and timeless. It only works with the right cast, without gimmicks. Despite some noticeable changes only purists might argue over, this is the most authentic Tennessee Williams production (of any of his plays) on Broadway in decades.

Director John Tiffany and scenic designer Bob Crowley have made some stylistic enhancements to The Glass Menagerie, from a reflecting pool of water to a stylized set featuring a tower of fire escapes, but nothing is distracting, and Williams’ simplistic yet florid dialogue and tragic story remain intact. The production recently transferred to Broadway from the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA.

The vulnerability Cherry Jones brings to Amanda Wingfield, the domineering mother, is both refreshing and true to the character.  Whether she’s nagging her children or recalling her glory days in Dixieland, we hear the sounds of desperation in every syllable.

Zachary Quinto’s take on Tom, the protagonist and narrator, is powerful in all the right places:  Sometimes nervous, ill at ease, with hyperactive movements. Whether he is arguing with his mother or talking about the drudgery of working in a shoe factory and spending mysterious nights at the movies, he displays an impressive range of awkward longing and raw emotions.

Celia Keenan-Bolger’s Laura is perhaps the strongest asset of this production. As written, the crippled, painfully shy character can easily be seen as fragile, but not terribly interesting.  However, Ms. Keenan-Bolger adds new dimensions here and thrives as a pretty but mentally and physically damaged being, relating only to her glass animal collection and words of encouragement from her brother and mother.  There is plenty of life in Ms. Keenan-Bolger’s Laura, and she really shines as an about-to-blossom flower when the famous Gentleman Caller (Brian J. Smith) arrives. Mr. Smith is entertaining as the man Tom invites over for dinner, after Amanda insists on finding a suitor for “Sister.”

The main thing missing here (often featured in other productions) is the large portrait of Mr. Wingfield, the father who left the family years earlier. But we don’t miss it, for it’s more realistic to not see the person who hasn’t been seen for ages in this doomed household.  These subtle directorial choices by John Tiffany, combined with the exceptional acting, make this a perfectly polished Glass Menagerie we may never see again.

REVIVAL REINVENTS ‘GLASS MENAGERIE’: (left to right) Zachary Quinto, Cherry Jones & Celia Keenan-Bolger in Williams’ superb memory play. Photo: Michael J. Lutch

MOTHER & DAUGHTER DISCORD: (left to right) Celia Keenan-Bolger & Cherry Jones in ‘The Glass Menagerie.’ Photo: Michael J. Lutch

The Glass Menagerie – 7 Tony Nominations, including: Best Drama Revival, Best Dramatic Actress – Cherry Jones, Best Dramatic Supporting Actress – Celia Keenan Bolger, Best Dramatic Supporting Actor – Brian J. Smith, Best Director – John Tiffany, Best Set Design, & BEST LIGHTING DESIGN – NATASHA KATZ.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 4, 2013
Reviewed at press performance on October 2, 2013

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