'Torch Song': Superb revival of LGBTQ classic

‘TORCH SONG’: Ward Horton & Michael Urie. Photo: Matthew Murphy

TORCH SONG
Written by Harvey Fierstein
Directed by Moises Kaufman
Through February 24, 2019
The Helen Hayes Theater
240 West 44th Street
(212-239-6200),www.torchsongbroadway.com

By David NouNou

The original gay fantasia—set in the early 1970s and 1980s and every gay Jewish boy’s dream of being able to have the gorgeous hunk WASP lover and living happily ever after—is back. But as we all well know, that fantasy is not always the case even if we attain the unattainable. Originally known as Torch Song Trilogy, Harvey Fierstein wrote a play with a tailor-made role for himself. It was first produced Off-Off-Broadway, then moved to Off-Broadway at the Actors’ Playhouse, and finally came to Broadway in 1982 at the Little Theater, now the Helen Hayes, where it has landed in a most triumphant revival. Torch Song has come back home to its original theater with a shorter title and all the humor and pathos that made it a groundbreaking gay classic.

Upon second viewing what stands out the most is how pertinent and relevant the subject matter is now, even more so than it was in 1982. Back then, it had a certain voyeurism to gay culture and was titillating to see gay life explored so openly.

Act I entitled “International Stud” is set in a real backroom bar that existed in the ‘70s and ‘80s. We meet Arnold Beckoff or Virginia Hamm (Michael Urie), that being his drag name and a torch singer living in New York City. He encounters Ed (Ward Horton), the unattainable bisexual stud at the bar. He leaves with Ed and his real problems begin.

Act II, entitled “Fugue in a Nursery,” takes place three years later, 1974. Ed is with Laurel (Roxanna Hope Radja) and Arnold is invited by Laurel for a weekend in the country. Arnold is now with a former hustler, now model Alan (Michael Hsu Rosen). Needless to say, all that ensues is a kind of mixed doubles.

Act III “Widows and Children First” is the money-shot act and the most solid of all. It is now 1980 and we get to meet Mrs. Beckoff (Mercedes Ruehl), the role that was originated by Estelle Getty. It is here that we discover how the proverbial apple does not fall far from the tree. We learn about Arnold adopting an orphan, David (Jack DiFalco), and we find out that Ed has left his wife and is staying with Arnold. Most important is the battle royal that ensues between mother and son. Both have lost loved ones and both deal with their losses in different ways. Both demand love and respect on their own terms.

The third act shows how ahead of its time Torch Song really was. What we take for reasonable expectations now of having unattainable relationships and marriage, a family, and respect from loved ones was really once a fantasy. Although we have come a long way, certain dogmas remain constant.

Michael Urie has made the role of Arnold Beckoff his own. He has placed his own stamp and his own original contemporary take on Arnold. Mercedes Ruehl as his mother is electrifying. Their blow-up with each other is theater magic. Moises Kaufman’s direction gives the proceedings a feel of the present, although they are set in the not-so-distant past. The one flaw in this otherwise flawless revival is the casting of Jack DiFalco as the son David (who is supposed to be a 16-year-old teenager). This is the role that introduced the public to a young Matthew Broderick and later to Fisher Stevens; they were teenagers, Mr. DiFalco now is David. He is not a teen and does not even look like one. The head-scratcher here is didn’t anyone in casting or the production team see this as an obstacle? Regardless, Torch Song still holds up more than 36 years later as an epic of LGBTQ life that has a lot to say about sexuality, family, gender roles, love and acceptance to a new generation.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 5, 2018
Reviewed at November 4, 2018 press performance.