Terrence McNally’s “It’s Only A Play” is George Street Playhouse’s (GSP) Holiday party of the season! We are present at very private conversations in the bedroom of the home of the producer of a new Broadway play. Julia Budder (Lindsay Nicole Chambers) is spreading her wings, producing the show on her own, so of course she hosts the after-show party, where we note the mirror, as well as these denizens of the theatre, have two or more faces. McNally, whom we lost to COVID I 2020, is at his comic best with this 1982 work that is his most popular play. He gives us an “Everyman” where all of the Players are represented, as well as many of the Seven Deadlies. Directed by Kevin Cahoon and Colin Hanlon, this antic return to live theatre at GSP gives us Broadway without the traffic. This was an electronic summer production via electronic viewing in June, and is the perfect work for everyone’s return to rubbing shoulders in a physically distanced, masked and vax’d environment. The energy from the stage crackles and scintillates right through the audience!
Doug Harris reprises his role as Gus P. Head, who has his first NYC gig as the coat check guy at the opening night party of a brand-new play. He’s having the time of his life, high-fiving Denzel and meeting Al Pacino. He is about to see what lives above and below the stones in the gardens of the Great White Way. First, he meets James Wicker (Mark Junek,) whose breakout Broadway role has led to a long-running TV series, but does he still have his inner fire? Movie star Virginia Noyes (Kristine Nielsen) bursts into what she’s thinking will be a quiet space, her opening night gown has an unusual accessory—an ankle bracelet, and her parole officer calls her every few moments. Sir Frank Finger, OBE, (Greg Cuellar) is the dazzling director who’s also a kleptomaniac who cannot lose for winning–yet having an existential crisis seems well within his grasp. Playwright Peter Austin (Patrick Richwood) manages to create a soapbox nearly everywhere he steps and delightfully smarmy critic Ira Drew (Triney Sandoval), returning to this role, is reunited with Cuellar and Harris, who were also featured this Summer.
This play is a full two acts with an intermission, just like the ones we used to know. Everyone will enjoy the razor-sharp repartée and arch theatre references. The experience of being in the theatre with other patrons means when you laugh, other people get the joke a moment later and vice versa. When the reviews of the opening night begin coming in, the playwright wears his psyche on his sleeve and we all get to watch. McNally’s genius is in his name-dropping talent for limning what makes us human, regardless of how we make a living.
A running bit with celebrity’s coats is pure delight and the comic timing of each of these farceurs is spot-on. I enjoyed Harris, Cuellar, and Sandoval even more in person than I had this summer on screen and Nielsen’s Noyes (get the pun...?) is so matter-of-fact about her non-past addictions that you could almost miss the double standards. Richwood’s Peter Austin is full of antic humor, bombast and self-deprecation. Words pour like water from his lips, as his stream of consciousness bears you away. Junek’s Wicker plays from the heart, even when he’s speaking from both sides of his mouth, and Chamber’s Julia Budder has the hope of all who love the theatre, combined with the tone-deaf cluelessness of some of the privileged. Yet all of their hearts are open and visible when illuminated at the right angle. And McNally has the angles.
The design team returns with David Arsenault (Scenic Design) putting us in a classically beautiful townhouse bedroom, lit by Alan Edwards (Lighting Design). Charles G. LaPointe (Hair and Wig Design), with Dotty Peterson (Makeup Design) and Alejo Vietti (Costume Design), give us celebrity realness with the “actors,” as well as all those who play supporting roles. Ryan Rumery (Sound Design) assures our experience of being party-adjacent. What a great selection for our physical return to the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. The more you know about theatre, the more you will enjoy this play. ‘Buckle up your seatbelts, we’re in for some bumpy weather.’
"It’s Only A Play" is running only through December 19, so give your gifts with no delay! Visit www.GeorgeStreetPlayhouse.org today!