Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The superb 50th anniversary revival of THE BOYS IN THE BAND proves that the seminal play remains relevant

• By drediman
• June 1, 2018
• No Comments

The company of Mart Crowley’s “The Boys in the Band” at the Booth Theatre.

Last night, the first Broadway show of the 2018-2019 season opened at the Booth Theatre. Regardless of which season it falls in, Joe Mantello’s superb 50th anniversary revival of Mart Crowley’s trailblazing The Boys in the Band continues Broadway’s trend in presenting top-notch play revivals. Indeed, the last few months saw Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women (also directed by Mr. Mantello), Tony Kushner’s Angels in America (which I would love to see Mr. Mantello direct), Tom Stoppard’s Travesties, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh, Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero – all in spectacular renditions on the Great White Way.

But back to The Boys in the Band. Interestingly, the play wasn’t embraced by the gay community when it was first performed in 1968. It’s depiction of gays as self-loathing, bitchy queens seemed contrary to the image that community leaders and social rights activists wanted to portray, and perhaps rightfully so. In a lot of ways, the play needed distance from whence it came for us to fully appreciate it. Luckily, the passage of time has neither softened nor cheapened – thanks largely to Mr. Mantello and his awesome company of actors – Mr. Crowley’s birthday party gone awry. Instead, it has calcified the tragicomic play into a hard-hitting, heartbreaking portrait of brave, deeply flawed souls trying to make sense of their humanity and navigate this thing we called life without drowning. Now who can’t relate to that?

As noted, Mr. Mantello’s stylishly designed production (David Zinn did the sets) is just about pitch perfect. As with his Three Tall Women, Mr. Mantello is able to mine and isolate the universal truths locked in Mr. Crowley’s time capsule. He elicits some penetrating, gorgeously nuanced acting from his starry cast, which includes Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Robin De Jesús, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington, and Tuc Watkins. As the backbones of the ensemble, Mr. Parsons and Mr. Quinto are giving fully lived-in performances that offer us painfully transparent access into their tortured souls. As a result, their defense mechanisms (alcoholism, vicious callousness) seem like fully necessary reactions to their respective circumstances as opposed to clichéd character traits. All in all, I scarcely think this landmark play will receive a finer production than this.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

THE BOYS IN THE BAND
Broadway, Play
Booth Theatre
1 hour, 50 minutes (without an intermission)
Through August 11