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Writing for Us
A CurtainUp Los Angeles Review
The Lost Plays of Tennesse Williams
| To me there's always something a little pathetic about a discarded book.—
The Girl in Mister Paradise
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In Mister Paradise, under the sensitive direction of Robert Burgos, a forgotten poet (Jack Heller) is confronted by a vividly enthusiastic girl (Melissa Lechner) who has just discovered an out-of-print volume of his poems propping up a table in an antique shop and wants to share her "wonder and excitement" with the world. Heller gives a delicately shambling performance as the old lion who sees the world very differently. The Palooka compares a buff young prizefighter (Jason Lopez) with his hero grown old, played by Timothy V. Murphy in a sharply acerbic portrait that brings out the poignance in this brief and predictable piece, directed by Brian Foyster.
The longest play And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens stars Brian Foyster as Mr. Delaney, a transvestite in a mid-life crisis after the man who was his "sponsor" since age 18 abandons him for someone younger. In his turn, Delaney picks up a hunky young sailor Karl (Chris Rydell) and offers him anything for companionship. Under Jack Heller's astutely paced direction, the play develops Karl's charismatic menace and Delaney's manipulation.
Though And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens is Williams' first known play set in the gay world, the relationships could be that any power couple or male/female dichotomy. Rydell finds the nuances in Williams' deliberately underwritten Karl and Foyster, looking like Mrs. Bates in Psycho in a second-act wig and negligee, knows just what buttons to push. Ultimately he blindly blames his age for Karl's departure. That's an easy out, far better developed by Williams for Blanche and Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Excellent production values enhance the interest of these plays which stand pretty well on their own, apart from their addition to the Williams canon. His last great play, The Night of the Iguana, which will be reviewed here next week, has just opened at A Noise Within in Los Angeles, giving audiences a chance to play the ends of him in theatre terms.
Editor's Note: In New York, a rarely produced The Eccentricities of Nightingales, a rewrite of Williams' Summer and Smoke, is getting a fine off-Broadway productions. (Our review will be posted when it officially opens on May 5th). For more about Tennessee Williams and links to his works that we've reviewed (including Summer and Smoke), see Curtainup's Williams Backgrounder.
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THE LOST PLAYS OF TENNSSEE WILLIAMS Playwright: Tennessee Willisma MISTER PARADISE. Director: Robert Burgos Cast: Melissa Lechner (The Girl), Jack Heller (Mister Paradise) THE PALOOKA Director: Brian Foyster Cast: William Mahoney (The Trainer), Timothy V. Murphy (The Palooka), Jason Lopez (The Kid) AND TELL SAD STORIES OF THE DEATH OF QUEENS Director: Jack Heller Cast: Brian Foyster (Mr. Delaney), Chris Rydell (Karl), Chris Carver (Alvin Krenning), Jonathan Runyon (Jerry Johnson) Set Design: Danny Cistone Lighting Design: Kathi O'Donohue Costume Design: Dana Campbell Sound Design: Ed Zajac Running Time: 90 minutes, no intermission Running Dates: March 21-June 8, 2008 Where: The L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center's Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles. Reservations: (323) 860-7300 Reviewed by Laura Hitchcock on May 2, 2008. |
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Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide
Sweeney Todd DVD
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