ENTERTAINMENT

JULY 9, 1993 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

JOAN MARCUS

fe Broadway production

have staged the play in a way that allows the content to be daring but presents it in a manner that is well within the expectations of a Broadway audience. The style is a spare "poetic realism" with acting that is firmly based in American method realism.

Robin Wagner's set is a simple group of moveable flats painted sky blue and streaked with clouds. It is framed by a large blue and silver temple front that serves as the proscenium with the play's title inscribed on the pediment. The flats move easily to vary the configuration of the stage space and minimal furniture props slide in and out to help create a sense of place. Jules Fisher's lighting can vary the color on the flats and give focus in the space. Color control is subtle and elegant. The visual flow of the action is stylish without ever achieving the poetry of the work of Joe Meilzener, who more or less established this style with his designs for the major plays of Tennessee Williams. Director George C. Wolfe's work is excellent at finding the emotional reality for the actor, but his staging lacks any sense of the musical structures of the play.

This is not say there are not brilliant moments and some fine acting in the production. All the Roy Cohn scenes are wonderfully shaped by Kushner and are alive in Ron Liebman's over-the-top performance. There is not the least doubt that Cohn is a flaming faggot despite his denial of this fact. All the scenes between Louis (Joe Mantello) and Joe (David Marshall Grant) are beautifully acted with Louis' ironic outness in sharp contrast to Joe's pathetic repression. The double hallucination-dream scene starts with a bravura set piece for Prior (Victor Spinella) at his vanity table putting the final touches on his drag. Jeffrey Wright brings sensitivity and flamboyance to all of Belize's scenes. Marcia Gay Harden captures the pathos and the

poetic imagination that Harper embodies.

It is clear that Wolfe has opted to focus on the human aspects of Kushner's drama. This de-emphasizes somewhat the political themes or, at least, makes them more palatable for a Broadway audience. The production fails, however, to realize the "fabulous" qualities of the writing, its poetry and surreal edge. Kushner's technique is profoundly dialectical: there are so many dualities in the ideas, characters, and plot, as well as in the structural use of split and overlapping scenes that what is required to achieve the whole is a master conductor attuned to Kushner's music.

What is strong and clear in the New York production of Millennium Approaches is its essential gayness. The six principal male characters embody different aspects of the gay experience and psyche. In the Broadway staging, the majority of the straight men in the play, all secondary roles, are acted by women (except for Prior's ghosts and Harper's fantasy Eskimo). The effect of this casting is to subtly reenforce the fact that the male perspective of the play is a totally gay one. That I recognized bits of myself in each of the principal male characters was a complex, sometimes horrifying, and illuminating experience. I can't begin to imagine how a straight audience will respond to this. And part of the point is that it no longer matters how a straight audience responds. It is about our own empowerment. Straight audiences will not be able to participate directly in the experience of the play, although there is certainly much the play has to offer them and to teach them if they are open to the experi-

ence.

It seems to me the current production is the best possible production the play could have in the commercial arena. It is a compelling, thought-provoking, and entertaining evening in the theater. If some elements of

"Roy Cohn is not a homosexual! Homosexuals have no clout. I am a heterosexual man who fucks around with guys!" Ron Leibman as the memorable right-wing power broker.

Kushner's work have been neglected in this production, the statement it makes and the possibility of it reaching a large audience seems to me to be the most important thing. So, come out, act up, be proud, see this play.

Performances are Monday through Saturday at 8 pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2

pm, at the Walter Kerr Theatre, 219 West 48th Street. Tickets range in price from $20 to $60. $20 tickets go on sale the day of the performance only at the box office. To charge tickets call 212-239-6200. One dollar from every ticket sold will be donated to the fight against AIDS.

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