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Peer Reviews Some
Men Reviewed by Sherry Deatrick Entire contents are copyright © 2008 Sherry Deatrick. All rights reserved.
"Some people think this marriage thing is going to be the end of gay life as it has been practiced on this planet for a hundred million years." Playwright Terence McNally isn't really suggesting that legalizing gay marriage will ruin homosexuality. Or is he? Actually, the play doesn't dwell on the issue of gay marriage, except to use the ceremony as bookends to a series of tenuously interconnected vignettes that span gay men's history from the 1920's through the present. Although the play doesn't dig too deeply (McNally never does), it does make you think about what it means to be gay and in a committed relationship. McNally doesn't preach (well, he might be preaching to the choir at times), but provides a panoramic view of major events that resulted in the right of gay people to marry (at least in California and Massachusetts, for now). Although some of us older folks remember gay oppression very well and may have even marched for gay rights, many young people may not fully appreciate the courage it took to participate in the struggle. Stonewall is not just a delay tactic, after all. Young people may not be aware of the 1977 fire in a New York bathhouse that took the lives of nine men. Lives that were needlessly lost because officials looked the other way when it came to safety codes in the baths, as McNally points out. A survivor, Michael Rhone, was quoted in the New York Times as saying, "'Faggots' are given a certain amount of liberty in New York City, and most of that is to hang out in sleazy sorts of low places that are substandard." The play succeeds in memorializing these historical events just enough to pique one's interest and spur you to learn more. More than just a dry recitation of history, the play is like a watercolor of gay men's culture throughout the 20th century. The most successful vignette takes place in the 1960's, where Shetland sweater-wearing, musk-drenched show-tune queens gather at a piano bar. They're in mourning for Judy Garland, who was buried that day. Bunny/Archie, a drag queen wearing one shoe and carrying the broken one in her hand, enters the bar. The bartender tries to oust her because she's not properly attired. Michael Drury, as Bunny, commands our full attention with his expert comic timing. Bunny barks out to the only guy in the bar who pays her any attention, "God did not create us in his fucking image to fucking judge one another." After a beat, Bunny asks, "Do you think I say fuck too much?" Well, you can guess the answer! Before leaving the bar to go back to the Stonewall Riots, Bunny belts out a few bars of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Bar patron Joel (Alden Sowder) finishes the song after Bunny leaves. There's not a dry eye in the house during Sowder's beautiful rendition of this overdone classic. In Sowder's version, we come to know why gay men love Judy Garland. (Interestingly, Pandora's production of the play opened two days after Garland's birthday.) This scene is a standout, and will remain with you for days after the show. Other scenes are not so great, and seem out of place. For example, there is an awkward vignette involving a soldier (Corey Long) who is delivering a flag to a grieving father (Joe Hatfield) during an unnamed war. Neither actor seemed comfortable on stage during this scene, which appears to be different from that in the original play. Perhaps it could just be eliminated. Another pointless scene involves the men all typing onto laptops while in a "chat" room. McNally doesn't really have anything to say that hasn't already been said before about people's misrepresentations of themselves on the internet. The scene drags on too long and loses the audience's interest. The only nod to lesbians comes in the hospital scene, where the men are waiting to visit a friend who's dying of AIDS. One complains that the "bull dyke" won't let him see the patient. The nurse (Michael Drury) sings her praises and wonders how many gay men would be volunteering at a hospital if it were primarily a lesbian disease. Another vignette, on the other hand, is a tad misogynistic. Well, more than a tad. A couple (Aurion Johnson and Mike Slayton) are talking about their upcoming adoption from a surrogate "crackhead" mother (just kidding, they say). The mother inadvertently lets the sex of the baby slip although they've told her they want to be surprised. When they find out it's not the "preferred" sex, they are disappointed, and their dismay is compounded by a rich couple (David Lee Smith and Alden Sowder) who flaunt their adopted baby Guatamelan boy during a beach stroll. But the rest of the play is entertaining and enjoyable. The actors work well together as an ensemble, making their characters memorable despite the potential confusion of having so many vignettes that span so many decades. Amazingly, there was only one minor line flub that I noticed on opening night, and it was barely noticeable. The actor handled it with finesse. A buffed Brent Gettelfinger plays the married man (Bernie) with aplomb, from his tentative exploration of anonymous gay sex with a hustler during the early 1960s through his long-term relationship with a school librarian he met at the baths. (Warning: there is full frontal and rear nudity during the hustler scene.) Aurion Johnson has the widest range of characters and makes the shifts seamlessly. Perhaps his best role is as one of the students who are interviewing "old queers" for a school project. Johnson knows how to work his eyeglasses to full effect. Likewise, Joe Hatfield plays a wide range of characters, and is most memorable as an ill-at-ease bathhouse cruiser. His awkwardness is well-choreographed. David Lee Smith (one of the grooms at the wedding) delivers a heartfelt meditation on the nature of fidelity and marriage in a harrowing confession he makes during group therapy. All told, the play is an actor's dream as it provides many opportunities to shine, with no one in particular stealing the show. A sparse set and the ingenious use of lighting round out this expertly directed production. In particular, the projected images behind the actors lent a German Expressionistic-style modernity to the set. Fragmented monochromatic images of the Manhattan skyline, a Fire Island sunset, a church and other locales whisk you away subconsciously to the places they suggest. As McNally says, Some Men won't make you run out and sign a petition for gay marriage. But you just might see things in a different light and perhaps bemoan the erosion of gay culture as it's been practiced for a hundred million years.
Some Men
Tickets: (502) 216-5502 Posted June 15, 2008
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