The Ritz

Roundabout Theater Company
Studio 54

In many ways the venue for The Ritz could not be more perfect at the old Studio 54 (the space was also named The Ritz for a time before becoming a Roundabout theater). It's a sexual farce set in the disco era in a gay bath house in New York. Basically, this show was fated to play in this theater, given the history of the space and most people's knowledge of its heyday.

Before I start writing, I want to note that most people left the theater happy. I overheard many happy, pleasant comments. However, I don't know if the sexual farce as a genre is generally one I like very much. Two staples of the genre serve to weaken it, in my mind. First, I find the slamming of the doors and all of the running around to be chaotic. And, second, at The Ritz I found the extreme acceleration of the plot towards the end a little hard to follow.

The foundation of the plot for The Ritz is, by its very nature, absurd. It's to be expected, though, I'm sure. An unexpected set of characters check in to a gay bath house one rainy evening. What makes the night unusual is that one of the characters is a straight, Italian man from Cleveland on the run from his brother-in-law who is set to kill him based on the death bed words of his father. He has asked a cab driver to take him to the last place people would look for him and he finds himself at The Ritz.

As a side story, a Puerto Rican woman enters the picture as the nightly entertainment and "star" of the bath house. This is where Rosie Perez enters in a role for which she is awfully well-suited. Commonly mistaken for a drag queen, ambitiously looking for true stardom elsewhere, her character adds energy and zest to the show.

As expected, the man from Cleveland finds himself pulled into a whole host of situations which pull him out of his room and his quiet night in hiding. He gets a full experience of the bath house and the bath house has a different sort of night.

At this early date (Sept. 22) the strongest performances were from two of the supporting actors. The first was from Brooks Ashmanskas as Chris. He had the chance to play an over-the-top sex addict in a gay bath house from the 70s and he took it. He wasn't so over-the-top that he was overacting. He was a joy to watch.

The other joy to watch was a surprise as it was a more minor role. Lucas Near-Verbrugghe (what a name!) played Tiger, one of the employees at the bath house, with infectious enthusiasm and precision. If everyone's performance had the enthusiasm and precision his did I might be screaming on the streets for people to go see it. I think it was his energy level, joy of being on the stage and his all-out embrace of the character and the play that made him a joy to watch. As we were leaving, I heard a daughter and mom comment on how great Tiger and Duff were. What I think they meant, is that it was easy to relax when Tiger had the stage. Near-Verbrugghe is going to have a great time in other Broadway parts and will probably always be this comfortable, but he really seemed able to relax and sell his role and the genre in a way that most of the other actors weren't fully able to do.

I also have to give due credit to the set designer, Scott Pask. I was a bit tired of looking at it for two hours, but it was magnificent in its own right. With all of the action and running around on stage, it was probably good that it wasn't moving, too. However, it was a great use of the stage and it looked beautiful up there. Looking at his bio, I've seen several of his sets before. They've always done well to support the play, but this was one where he got to be magnificent. Although, the wondeful simplicity and brilliance in accounts from Coast of Utopia folks, it is rumored he outdid himself there.

This is by no means bad Broadway fare. Many people were laughing all the way through. It was also a bit refreshing as sexual farces only come to Broadway every so often. It felt like big-budget entertainment. I felt entertained and never looked at my watch. I wasn't convinced that the leads had really settled into their roles, yet. There was a bit of overacting and exaggeration which put me off. In something like this there is such a fine line between outrageous and overdoing it. Maybe, wait a couple of weeks and then go. I don't think it will fall by the wayside too quickly. It's really, really nice for a day at the theater, just not totally, totally fabulous.

Although, I might find the costume (that little towel) a suitable gift for my significant other.