Gay ‘Boys in the Band’ host their ‘60s party in a real penthouse

Mart Crowley's landmark play comes alive in an environmental revival

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

A butterfly-on-the-wall staging of "The Boys in the Band" situates its gay New Yorkers at finger-tip proximity to the audience, providing a fresh, voyeuristic tingle to the birthday party doings of Mart Crowley's 1968 comedy-drama.

Given an aptly environmental production by that ever-enterprising Transport Group Theatre Company, the revival opened Sunday in a 12th floor penthouse space in a commercial building located off Madison Square.

Designer Sandra Goldmark transforms the space into a loft-like apartment where the play's boozing and bitchery occurs. Some tasteful ‘60s-style furniture is arranged mostly in the middle of the living room area while a bedroom is placed in a raised alcove at the far end. Expansive windows offer dramatic north and south midtown views, but the designer has positioned 99 padded chairs in two rows all around the room to focus inwards upon the drama brewing at the apartment's center.

An expectant pause and then the party-giver, Michael, bops out of the bathroom in his robe, drops the hi-fi needle on an upbeat Judy Garland medley and busily sashays around his pad, switching on lamps and setting out the cracked crab. Soon his eight guests begin to arrive and the festivities get going.

Quite an outspoken sensation during the pre-Stonewall era, "The Boys in the Band" has by now become a quaint period piece peopled by representative gay men. Although Crowley's forced dramaturgy for the climactic party game sequence nowadays clanks like "The Second Mrs. Tanqueray," the play otherwise functions smoothly as an effective piece of boulevard-style theater.

If certain characters are stereotypes whose self-hating issues cause one to wince today, they more or less do reflect their less forgiving times. Certainly much of Crowley's sharply comic banter still hisses and snaps like a sequin handbag crammed with vipers.

Removing the two-hour play's intermission and correctly presenting it with mid-1960s accouterments, director Jack Cummings III keeps his actors naturally moving around the space although occasionally everyone stops dead to witness a significant speech.

A dynamic presence as Michael, whose acid nature visibly grows more poisonous with every martini, Jonathan Hammond swiftly and surely drives the proceedings. A watchful figure as Michael's semi-boyfriend, Nick Westrate supportively mops up everyone's various spills, tears and bloody lips. John Wellmann's blithely spirited oh-Mary-don't-ask pansy, Christopher Innvar's moody-broody cheater and Jon Levenson's spooky, stoned-out birthday boy are other notables on the guest list.

Should you care to visit the "Boys," be advised that it's general admission seating so arrive early to grab a good spot. If at all possible, sit on the left side of the room (as you walk in) towards the center of the space facing a couple of couches. Beware of pillars that partly obscure certain viewpoints. Cocktails are available and recommended.

"The Boys in the Band" continues through March 14 in the penthouse at 37 W. 26th St., New York. Call (212) 352-3101 or visit www.transportgroup.org.