Lips Together, Teeth Apart

[edjames]

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

 

IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON SEEING THIS SHOW YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO READ WHAT I HAVE TO SAY.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry to report I hated this show! Boring and long! Three acts running about 2 hours and 40 minutes. If I hadn't made plans to join friends after the theater I would have bolted after the first act and the longer I stayed the more bored I got.

Set in Fire Island in 1990, Sam and Sally have inherited this beachfront property from her recently deceased brother who died from AIDS. They have invited Sam's sister, Chloe, and her husband, John, to join them for the 4th of July weekend. It all goes downhill from there. They should have never gotten on that ferry!

Chloe is one of the most annoying characters I have ever seen. She never shuts up and has an annoying habit of peppering her non-stop chatter with French phrases. Over the course of this play we find out that her husband John has esophageal cancer and the diagnosis is grim. Chloe gleefully practices her singing and dancing for her upcoming roles in community theater productions.

Sally is a sad little character who has found out that she is pregnant once again, although she has a history of miscarriages. Her husband Sam reveals he does not think he would be a good father.

And, they're afraid to go into the pool because they fear they will get AIDS!

A modest round of applause at curtain call. I said goodbye to some friends who were in the audience, and ran to join friends at Shadow Boxers, where I greedily began consuming a few needed cocktails. One of them said to me on the way out of the theater "They should have taken a big pair of scissors to that script!'

 

Some may remember the original production at Manhattan Theater Club in 1991 starring Nathan Lane, Christine Baranski and Swoozie Kurtz. I hope they did a better job.

[+ beethoven]

No one has replied yet? Odd. Sadly to say, I agree with edjames. I liked this in 1991, and bought a ticket for this production. Very disappointing. Not boring enough to make me leave, but not interesting enough to make me glad I stayed. Rather than boring, my one-word description would be inconsequential.

[skynyc]

Completely agree...the weaknesses of this production just emphasize how bad the play is. The direction and casting were both culpable.

 

Neither the dialogue nor the characters ring true...(for example, I don't feel the cancer-stricken character of John would ever hide his diagnosis...his ego is too enormous...he'd be shouting from the rooftops..."Look at me fighting this".)

And the zaniness of Chloe which was somewhat endearing by Swoozie Kurtz was just really annoying in Tracey Chimo. America Ferrera is so different from Christine Baranski, that the portrayals were night and day...and Ms. Ferrarra's didn't work for me.

 

I saw this as part of my 2nd Stage subscription, and stayed...even in their notoriously uncomfortable seats. LOL

 

Roundabout was in rehearsal with this several years ago with Megan Mullally in the cast and when she quit (at the time I didn't understand), the production was scrapped. In retrospect, I think both Ms. Mullally and the Roundabout dodged a bullet.

 

Thankfully, Second Stage, which lost the NY Premiere of American Psycho to a Broadway-minded producer, has replaced it with Between Riverside and Crazy which I loved this summer at the Atlantic, and will welcome the oppty to see it again.