‘Bachelorette’ bares bad behavior

Envy drives Leslye Headland's backbiting comedy about a bridal party

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

Premiering on Monday in Second Stage Theatre's summer "Uptown Series" at its McGinn/Cazale space on the Upper West Side, Leslye Headland's "Bachelorette" is a mean-girls-gone-wild story set in a swank hotel suite.

An envious maid of honor, Regan (Tracee Chimo) secretly invites two old frenemies of the bride, Gena (Katherine Waterston) and Katie (Celia Keenan-Bolger), to join in some pre-wedding festivities.

Swilling bubbly, snorting cocaine and literally bouncing off the furniture, these thoughtless late 20-somethings soon trash the room as well as the elsewhere-occupied bride Becky (Carmen M. Herlihy) — known to them as "Pigface" — who later arrives to discover a torn wedding dress, among other damages.

Two dudes Regan picked up that night also are found on the premises. A seemingly casual Jeff (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is coolly bent on seducing Regan while his slacker bud Joe (Fran Kranz) proves to be a far more kindly date for Katie, a self-destructive party girl.

For a while, "Bachelorette" offers plenty of nasty fun — Gena's analysis of the politics behind oral sex is a humorous highlight of Headland's often barbed dialogue — but then the playwright wants viewers to feel sympathy for wretched Katie and perhaps even for manipulative Regan. Greater understanding does not always mean more empathy, however, and Katie's sad story as a former prom queen is scarcely fresh. Still, it's satisfying to watch Becky firmly settle the final score with Regan.

Like many parties, this sordid affair tends to wind down before it's finally over in spite of director Trip Cullman's sharply detailed staging of the intermission-free play. His actors confidently go the distance to render their characters human even as they mine the script for its noxious laughter.

Last seen off Broadway as a gawky teen in "Circle Mirror Transformation," Chimo is marvelously sleek and evil as Regan. Another specialist in troubled youngsters, who recently was so moving as an autistic daughter in "Creating Claire" at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, Keenan-Bolger hurls herself wholeheartedly into the gonzo role of Katie. Dressed like an overgrown Goth girl — designer Emily Rebholz's clothes are neatly observed — Waterston amusingly speeds up Gena's delivery with every snort she takes.

Set designer Andromache Chalfant provides classy accommodations for these party animals who finally leave the place a mess and the viewer somewhat ambivalent in feelings about them. Perhaps you'll care.

"Bachelorette" continues through Aug. 14 at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre, Broadway at 76th St., New York. Call (212) 246-4422 or visit www.2st.com.