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SHOWS FOR DAYS Send This Review to a Friend
Last night when I saw Douglas Carter Beane’s “Shows for Days,” a Lincoln Center Theater presentation, Patti LuPone earned her first ovation before the show. Word was out about how on the night before she had seized the cellphone of an audience member who was texting. When LuPone came on stage in the wake of her stand against rude audience behavior, the crowd was with her, as many of us are fed up with such annoyances. She made an impassioned request to turn off such distractions in respect to her and the others who put on a play and don’t deserve rude behavior by a few who spoil it for the rest. Once at a show I attended the cellphone of a man in front of me rang--and he answered it. Brava Patti.
LuPone then proceeded in “Shows for Days” to earn another ovation for her acting, surely due her in light of her colorful performance as a local theater diva who had missed the possibility of a greater achievements, got married and was piling her thwarted hopes into the limited opportunity with struggling theater group in Reading, PA.
The show, directed by Jerry Zaks with a balance between humor and content, is framed around the reflections of the present-day Car, who recalls how as a teenager he was incorporated into the troupe and wrote his first play. (“Shows for Days” is said to spring from Douglas Carter Beane’s own experiences.) Michael Urie is charming in the role, soon winning us over as suddenly he deftly changes demeanor to make us believe he is 14. The adult Car intersperses comments at various point to winningly tie the play together.
When we go back in time it is 1973 and John Lee Beatty’s rehearsal set, located in a wreck of a building slated to be torn down, provides the right look, as do William Ivey Long’s period costumes. When Car wanders in, he first meets the bulldozing company member Sid, uproariously played by Dale Soules, given a good share of wisecracks. Next encountered is the ditzy, sometimes hysterical actress Maria (Zoë Winters.) We get to meet Clive, the gay African-American actor with the need to feed a giant ego masking insecurities, a larger-than-life character played by Lane Coadie Williams.
But the real fun starts when Patti LuPone sweeps in as Irene, who rules her roost with a firm hand, is forever acting whether on stage or off and is ingenious at coming up with ideas on how to save the theater. She also can be ruthless, even resorting to blackmail that can have painful consequences. LuPone is not just enjoyable to watch as she makes the most of the playwright’s comic zingers. She also demonstrates her extraordinary acting skills by creating a full-bodied characterization of a woman with regrets who desperately wants to be in the spotlight. Irene dallies with the younger Damien, played by Jordan Dean, who, as we learn, wants sex with Car.
The play oozes nostalgia as a memoir that might especially appeal to those who have a background in such theater groups and it takes its place alongside similar memoirs.
After a strong first act, the second act is less successful as the need to resolve plot elements sets in. Dialogue is not as funny and the drama gets a bit heavy-going as it grows more serious. Fortunately, in latter moments the spell of the piece takes hold again and, weaknesses in the work aside, we are left with affection for the play, the cast and especially for the remarkable LuPone. At the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center. Phone: 212-239-6200. Reviewed July 10, 2015.
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