Playwright Terrence McNally had a prolific career. The New York Times called him “the bard of the American theater,” and he received five Tony Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1996 and the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2018.
Three of McNally’s offerings are being produced in Palm Springs this spring. His first Tony Award-winning musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman, is soon to open at Palm Canyon Theatre, and will be followed at PCT by his hilarious farce, The Ritz. The first of the three, however, is now playing at the Dezart Playhouse: The final show of their inaugural season in their gorgeous new facility is Love! Valour! Compassion!
L!V!C! won the 1995 Tony Award for Best Play and is considered by many to be McNally’s masterpiece. The Dezart production is directed by Philip Wm. McKinley, and the setting of the play is a large, turn-of-the-century house that sits on a lake in Dutchess County, about two hours north of New York City. Rick Bluhm’s set design is simple but quite functional; it fills most of the open stage with a series of platforms. There is a miniature model of “the house” upstage as if it is being viewed from a distance, and the “lake” has a platform floating in it. There is minimal use of furniture, with some moveable small set pieces that were adapted as needed. Chase Potter’s lighting was efficient and helped set the tone and focus of the action.
The play takes place in the mid-1990s as a group of friends, all gay, gathers on three holiday weekends: Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. Gregory Mitchell (played by J. Stephen Brantley) is an aging dancer/choreographer who owns the house; Mitchell gives Gregory a generous spirit while he deals with his end-of-career physical decline; the flow of his speech seemed to be a bit random at times. Bobby (Tim Frangos) is Gregory’s younger, blind boyfriend; Fragos shows Bobby to be comfortable with his disability and is able to joke about it.
Arthur (Matt McConkey), an accountant, and Perry (Michael Shaw), a lawyer, have been a couple for 14 years. They are successful in their careers but are not always harmonious with each other. McConkey’s Arthur is a pleasing, believable Rock of Stability. (He even rescued a couple of opening-night line fumbles to keep things moving.) Shaw’s Perry was at times hard to understand, but improved as the play progressed. Perry has strong opinions and feelings, and Shaw nicely transitioned his character with them.
Buzz Hauser (Oscar Fabela) is the showy character role originally written by McNally for Nathan Lane. Buzz is a walking neurotic, musical-theater queen who can shoot off a barrage of names, dates and facts without blinking an eye. Buzz makes costumes for Gregory’s productions—and is dealing with AIDS. Fabela brings energy and superb comic timing to Buzz; he elicits sympathy with how he faces his character’s future.
The final guests for Memorial Day are John Jeckyll (Jamie Pierce), Gregory’s pianist, a Brit with a rather sour personality who is tolerated by the others because of his musical talents; and the “hot” young dancer he brings, Ramon (Chris Carranza)—who we soon learn is using John to meet Gregory and further his career. Carranza’s Ramon exudes just the right amounts of testosterone and ambition; he knows how to own the stage without stealing focus.
We also learn during the Memorial Day weekend that Buzz had past relationships with both Perry and John, and that John has a twin brother, James (also played by Pierce), who lives in England and is dying of AIDS.
John and James appear onstage at the same time during a confrontational scene in Act 3, and there is masterful dialogue throughout the play to set the scene. John is hateful, unhappy and resentful, while James is sweet, kind and loving. The conceit: James introduces the scene while slumped in a chair. As he rises slowly from the chair in full view of the audience, there has to be a physical and emotional transition for the actor to become John so he can unload all of his pent-up venom to his twin. The lines were delivered well, but there somehow there was a lack of feeling; seeing as this was opening night, I hope this important scene becomes better-developed for future performances.
Christopher Metzger’s costumes worked well, although more of distinction in dress between John and James would have been helpful.
This is a fine production of an exceptional script with important storytelling. If you’ve not experienced it in the theater, now is your chance.
Dezart Performs’ production of Love! Valour! Compassion! is performed at 7 p.m., Thursday through Saturday; and 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, through Sunday, April 19, at the Dezart Playhouse, at 605 S. Riverside Drive, in Palm Springs. Tickets are $69 including fees, and the show runs two hours and 45 minutes, with two intermissions; limited tickets remain, and some performances are sold out. For more information, call 760-322-0179, or visit www.dezartperforms.org.
