June Theater Wrap-Up

The highlights of my June theater schedule were Measure for Measure in Central Park and Unnatural Acts at Classic Stage Company. I attended opening night of Measure for Measure and was excited to spot the likes of Alec Baldwin, Heath Calvert and Tony Kushner (all three are major celebrities in my mind). I found the performance to be more engaging than most productions on Shakespeare. Of course a town outlawing sex outside of marriage (reminded me a lot of Footloose) and a classic bedtrick make for a good story. Carson Elrod stole the show for me. He was my favorite lost boy in Peter and the Starcatcher and he was excellent in a totally different role in Measure for Measure. The park raccoon made an appearance, as did a dildo, so all in all it was a great night at Shakespeare in the Park.

Unnatural Acts is about the secret court at Harvard that expelled a number of students and one faculty member who were thought to be gay. The story is true and is a blemish on Harvard's liberal history. It's a very compelling story. Each man in the play had their own explanation for their association with the "gay" dorm room on campus. The explanations were not so much the cause of being closeted, but trying to save their hides, and their diplomas. The acting was great - the actors did their own 1920's version of camp with success. At the end of the play we heard of what happened in life to each of the character's and many were sad, but predictable.

In  June I also made a return trip to see The Normal Heart before it ended its Broadway run. We are all so lucky that this play was produced this spring (thank you Darryl Roth) and that Joe Mantello and John Benjamin Hickey signed on for it. A new generation of theater goers got to be affected by Larry Kramer's rage. Let us remember it.

The lowlights of June - The Shaggs at Playwright's Horizon, The House of Blue Leaves on Broadway and The Illusion at Signature Theatre.