Of Good Stock

Melissa Ross seems to be under the delusion that messed up and messy people who were born to cheating and unhappy parents are considered to be born "of good stock" or are "good stock" themselves.  The funny, poignant, and slice of life production by Manhattan Theater Club on the City Center Stage I by its title seems to suggest so.  Hardly the case, although the production itself is quite good and for too many probably cuts quite close to the bone.

Although the headline name seems to be Alicia Silverstone who aptly plays the Legally Blond type sister (Amy), in fact the entire cast is quite delicious.  There's a flavor of some affectation for slight control freak with cancer (Jennifer Mudge), lost and young (Heather Lind),  cute, cuddly, and genuine boy from Montana (Nate Miller), Northeast "good guy" (Kelly AuCoin) and uptight trapped groom to be (Greg Keller).

I'm not sure if we are supposed to like any of these people or just see some reflection of ourselves in any one of them but the story unfolded mostly as expected and maybe took about 15 minutes too long.

Families are mostly complicated and according to this version, messed up.  It's mostly true but do we need a play to remind us of this fact?

Some Men

Terrance McNally's new work is both charming and witty. Played out on stage as a series of vignettes emanating from the the flashbacks, back stories, and thoughts of a group of men at a gay wedding - it chronicles the lives of gay men over the past 80 years. Many of the stories are interconnected (shades of "the chart" from the L-Word). History indeed shows that we indeed have come a long way.

I found one of the most poignant scenes to be the one between the "young kids" of generation Y interviewing the "old guys" in the park for their college journalism project. The old couple seem to look back on their own experiences fondly and with great joy. Of course, in hindsight, a gay teen today would find their experiences very closeted, oppressive, and unimaginable in today's world.

"You mean you could be arrested for being at a gay bar? "Why didn't you protest more"? The questions seem logical if the same things were happening today - but the point being made was that at that time, in that era, it just wasn't what seemed appropriate. The older gay men really remember the good times - the "golden era" they were part of.

Times change. Acceptance abounds. We've definitely come a long way. Some Men reminds just how far even in my own lifetime.