William Shakespeare says in Hamlet that "The play is the thing". After my personal experiences this past weekend I can say that I both agree and disagree with the bards sentiment. Lincoln Center theater has a wonderful program for theater goers under the age of 30 called LincTix, in which patrons under 30 may purchase tickets (in advance and online) to all of Lincoln Center Theater's productions on or off-Broadway for only $30. www.linctix.org if you're interested, I highly recommend it.
Through this program I ordered my tickets to see The Nance Douglas Carter Beans new Comedy starring Nathan Lane for this past Saturday afternoon. Now, to be fair, this play is advertised as NATHAN LANE in The Nance. The show has been playing for three months now, and every person I've talked to about the play says that Nathan Lane is wonderful in the lead role. Hell, he even got a Tony nomination for his performance.
Needless to say I was a bit disappointed to arrive at the Lyceum Theater to discover that he was not appearing int the Sat. Mat. There was a long line of people exchanging tickets. We were all told that Mr. Lane WOULD be appearing in that evenings performance. I decided to try my luck and hopped in the exchange line. Sure enough I was able to change my tickets for that evenings performance. I set myself off to other destinations for the remainder of the afternoon.
Upon returning to The Lyceum for the 8 pm performance, we were again dismayed to learn that Nathan Lane would in fact NOT be appearing in that evenings performance either. We were already seated when we made this discovery, and decided that though we were disappointed we would try to enjoy the understudy, whom I had seen in other things and knew to be a fine actor in his own right.
Now, about the play. In case you were wondering, in the world of 1930's burlesque a Nance was a very popular character. The Nance was a stereotypically camp homosexual man, most times played by a straight male performer to be overtly effeminate. In his new play, Douglas Carter Beane tells the story of Chauncey Miles, a headline Nance performer in New York City's Burlesque scene, who also happens to be a real life homosexual. Integrating burlesque sketches into the drama, Beane weaves the tapestry of a gay man living and working in the secretive and dangerous world of New York in the 1930's.
The play itself is well written for the most part. The Character of Chauncey Miles has some very choice scenes and monologues, as do the supporting players. There are problems and inconsistencies in the script however, that do make some things confusing. It does raise some interesting points, though it feels too much like a period piece and lacks much of any relationship to current events. It doesn't feel as relevant as it should.
Stephen Derosa did his best (and it was quite good) in the role of Chauncey. The trouble, of course, is that the entire time I was imagining how much funnier it would have been if Nathan Lane had done whatever he did. This play was written with Nathan Lane in mind, and it shows in the text. This will make it difficult for any actor that comes after him.
Johnny Orsini is delightful as the is he or isn't he young Ned. Ned's relationship with Chauncey is one of those inconsistent moments in the script, though both actors do the best they can of selling it. Lewis J. Stadlen stands out as the top banana and "straight man" to Chauncey's Nance persona. Cady Huffman, Andrea Burns, and Jenni Barber each turn in excellent performances as a trio of burlesque strippers.
Jack O'Brien has done his usual great work directing the piece. The set and costume design by John Lee Beatty and Ann Roth, respectively, is what really makes the show feel true. They have both created a world that lives and breathes and feels like the gritty New York of the 30's. The Nance is performed with a live band who accompanies the burlesque sketches. The movement for these scenes is impeccably done by Joey Pizzi.
Overall I would recommend the play. I think that the writing is solid even if the structure is a bit off. It's also possible that the playwright will make some changes before the play is published or produced elsewhere. Douglas Carter Beane is one of my absolute favorite people writing for the American Theater today. If you get the chance to see The Nance before it closes on Sunday, August 11th, you should definitely do so - even if Nathan Lane is out.
