I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers

        The day the Tony award nominations came out, there was a large public outcry (well, large in the theater community) about performances and shows that got snubbed. One of the first names on the list of "should have been's" was Bette Midler for her portrayal of the late Hollywood Mega agent Sue Mengers.

      At the time of the nominations I had not yet seen the play, and could not fairly judge whether or not she deserved to be nominated. Now that I have seen the play, and 3 out the 5 performances that were nominated, I can safely say I agree with the dive miss M's lack of a nomination.

     How can I arrive to that conclusion without having seen all of the performances that were nominated? I'll tell you. Of the three performances that I did see, I would not have replaced any of those nominations based on what I saw. In addition, there were other performances that were NOT nominated that if the performances I had NOT seen were NOT nominated that I would fill those slot's with before I would have nominated Bette Midler.

     Perhaps I should have prefaced this blog entry with the fact that I LOVE BETTE MIDLER! I've seen her in concert, her Cd's were some of the first that I ever owned as a young gay. Her performance in the TV movie version of Gypsy is gold to me. Hocus Pocus changed my life. Beaches makes me teary eyed every time I see it, and I was one of the few people who knew exactly what Jennifer Lawrence was doing in her acceptance speech. I LOVE Bette!

    Nor is she giving a bad performance in this play. First let's talk about John Logan's script. John Logan won a Tony award for writing Red. I thought that was a very poorly written play. John Logan writes very captivating film scripts. He wrote the screen play for SKYFALL among many other things. I"LL EAT YOU LAST is a 90 minute inside conversation. If you're a person who knows or has an interest in the Hollywood heyday of the 70's and 80's than you probably enjoyed or would enjoy this play very much. If the names and movies being mentioned to you are as unfamiliar as the period table of elements is to a 6 year old, than you're probably not having as good a time.

    This is where Bette Midler shines. She makes the play accessible to all people regardless of their being in the know. She makes you feel like you're a part of it all. The play runs at 90 minutes. The wonderful thing about it is that just as it's starting to feel tedious, it's over. It knows exactly when to call it quits. Bette keeps things going at break neck speed. Occasionally pausing for dramatic affect, or rather comedic affect, or to light up a cigarette, or a joint.

    The reason Bette didn't get a Tony award nomination is because she is giving the kind of performance that you expect to see from Bette Midler. She is playing a persona rather than a person. Now, there are some very interesting scenes of Sue Mengers talking about moving to the USA and learning how to speak English. Bette actually surprises here with her depth and understanding, though the depth isn't more than a few feet deep. For the most part, the performance is kept at a decibel of 7-8 out of 10.

       Scott Pask has designed the set to be exactly what you might think the California living room of a Hollywood agent might look like. How accurate a depiction of Sue Mengers actual living room it is I couldn't tell you, but it works very well for the play. Ann Roth has outfitted the Davine Bette or rather, Sue, in a very hippie style caftan dress. It's long, flowing, and could double as pajamas. The lighting by Hugh Vanstone is functional, and there really isn't much going on in the way of special lighting effects.

    Overall this is not a play that I would expect to see done very much regionally, and certainly not in community theaters or colleges. I would imagine that it has very little appeal outside of New York and L.A. Sue Mengers was a very interesting woman, and her story is quite rare given the time period and the fact that she was a woman. For that, the play, or at least  the subject, is worth celebrating.

    I'll Eat you Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers continues at The Booth Theater through Sunday June 30th. If you arrive at the theater 2 hours before the box office opens you have a very good chance of receiving a same day rush ticket for $35.