A Cutting-Edge Reenactment of What Lies Behind Jerry Falwell Jr.’s Notorious Sex Scandal
POW! stands for “Plays Of Wilton,” Ronnie Larsen’s hot (in every way), explosively popular theatrical brand. Larsen’s logo design alone reflects comic superhero POW! ZAP! BAM! power punches that arrive unexpectedly … yet always manage to save the day. It’s one more fitting description of the arc of Ronnie Larsen Presents productions, held at intimate The Foundry, a little theater whose seating and stage area have been renovated, yet again, for maximum comfort and “big show” impact. Thereby further expanding its mission to provide unique, diverse, primarily LGBTQ+- slanted theater in our region, including many world premieres, often written, produced, and directed by the irrepressible Grand Master of Innovation, Ronnie Larsen himself.
You might recall my recent review of Larsen’s Mae West in Sunset Boulevard which imagined how things went for Mae when and after she turned down the legendary role that was then given to Gloria Swanson. Our local legends (and Ronnie’s muse for the piece) Jennifer McClain as Mae West and Carbonell-winner Seth Trucks as studio emissary John Gordon won universal accolades for their roles in this audience-favorite production. As did POW! managing director Jeff Walters for his strikingly luxurious set design that almost served as a third character. In fact, the play proved so popular that its run was just extended to three more Friday’s this month. (So if you’re suddenly back from vacation, grab your last chance to see the show Foundry patrons are predicting is bound for Broadway!)
Though you did miss a chance to see a rare Foundry DOUBLE FEATURE. Yes, likely another “first” for our area, there were a couple of Sundays in June when you could have attended a “Mae West” matinee, enjoyed an excellent Wilton Manors dinner, then head back for Ronnie’s second world premiere in a month called FALL WELL, still starring Jeff Walter’s magnificent stage set and actor Seth Trucks who managed to morph from shy, repressed studio emissary John Gordon, to lecherous, demanding Jerry Fallwell Jr. in a couple of hours! There should be a special award for Lead Actor in Two Different Productions on the Same Day.
There were some similarities. Both plays are Ronnie Larsen-created “historical fiction” as it were, where we are treated to imagined but likely deeply felt emotions and possible conversations held by real people that lead up to true, dramatic turning points in their lives. Through scenes and dialog scripted by our local master of mischief and sexual innuendo, audiences can expect to be both startled and entertained … when not shocked into gut-wrenching laughter.
Expect to enjoy a preshow whenever Larsen enters the theater and manages to thank actors, benefactors and friends present by name in a way that’s never boring and can’t help but make you smile. On the Wednesday night I attended Fall Well, he acknowledged star Jennifer McClain (aka Mae West) seated in the front row, a “theater critic” (me), and a major supporter’s birthday with a balloon and flowers as we all joined in singing “Happy Birthday” while some dozen floral bouquets were distributed throughout the audience. (Did I mention there always seems to be an open bar with complimentary drinks you can bring to your seats when you enter the theatre?) In today’s divisive age, it feels so good to come to a “happy place” where you can feel part of a welcoming theater community, no matter your orientation.
Though maybe I should warn the religious right, right now, there’s plenty of fun poked at the expense of not the church, per se, but of “holier than thou” Bible-thumping hypocrites and their passionately held narrow belief systems. Who consistently claim they are morally correct in their self-serving and obviously ludicrous biblical interpretations.
Many of you might remember the recent, highly publicized Liberty University sex scandal involving the sanctimonious Christian university’s president Jerry Falwell Jr. who inherited the position from his world famous, evangelical founder dad. Falwell Junior was also at the center of an infamous 2022 Hulu documentary by director Billy Corben, titled God Forbid: The Sex Scandal that Brought Down a Dynasty, in which a Miami Beach Fontainebleau Hotel pool attendant (naive 20-year-old college student Giancarlo Granda) exposes details about his nine-year, sexually groomed and demanding relationship with financially ambitious and morally corrupt Jerry Fallwell Jr. and his oversexed, overbearing, needy and emotionally messed-up wife Becki. Their strange sexploitation story has even returned to make headline news with this past week’s announcement that Liberty University would pay Jerry Falwell Jr. a $15 million settlement for his lawsuit about being fired following his infamous 2020 sex scandal.
How did Ronnie Larsen manage to produce these two original world premieres, which practically ran in tandem, in his single little theatre? He’s quite the clever rascal and anyone who’s seen the Mae West production (you still have a few chances) can’t help but marvel at how he’d reworked his set walls from featuring classically raunchy 1930’s Mae West movie posters, to hanging crucifixes, looming portraits of the Lord & Savior, Jesus-themed throw pillows, and one angelic family photo of the Falwell grandchildren hung above the staircase. And then there’s my personal favorite: The gilt and curtain-framed large central portrait of Mae holding her pet monkey was replaced by a similarly sized and painted Jesus cuddling a white lamb in the identical position. All portable switcheroos that were not that hard to accomplish between shows.
For Fall Well, there was also the addition of a swiveling round settee out front that often held the relining, practically nude body of featured hunk Juan Toro in the strange and challenging role of Cuban-American Giancarlo Granda. I think the spinning settee, too, serves as an in-the-know “wink” to audience members who loved POW!’s original swivel-chair public musicals in the park. Upon perusing the program, you’ll land on a two-page center spread announcing “The World’s First Swivel Theater” and a new American Swivel Theater premiere coming soon! Presented by Plays of Wilton and Ronnie Larsen – our one man “city who never sleeps.”
But for now, let’s keep our eyes on (and with his good looks, it’s hard to keep our eyes anywhere else!) the POW! debut of Juan Toro, a suddenly much-in-demand actor who looks perfectly at ease performing barefoot and practically bare-bodied for the entire 90-minute, no intermission show. Toro does appear comfortable in what I saw as snug Y-front briefs or Tighty-Whities. Though my gay male theater friend insisted he wore a white Speedo swimsuit.
When I wondered aloud if the suit included extra padding up front (like what’s used for uplift in women’s bras) to indicate a constant state of arousal, his response was that the actor might simply be naturally well endowed. He certainly wasn’t shy – not in his role as a willing seducer of Mrs. Becki Falwell, which her husband loved watching and, when “given permission” allowed to jack off to – and in his ongoing dealings with the couple.
So yes, you’ll encounter many sex scenes that start off with shocking, X-rated language. (No one under 18 is allowed to attend.) But here’s the rub. This is one play that despite its featured threesome subject and discussions and use of unusual sexual positions (I now know what it means to perform an “Eiffel Tower”), there was no need to employ an intimacy director because nobody actually touched anyone beyond holding hands for prayer and the occasional quick hug. In fact, the picture of the threesome on the cover of the program, featuring the three actors suggestively and physically entwined, never takes place in the play – except maybe in our imaginations!
But they DO perform super-hot and heavy sex, complete with thumping moves of penetration, masturbation, and all the gasps, wails, and shudders of major orgasms while fully clothed, ironically, all in pure white (or in Juan Toro’s case partially clothed) and standing, lying or kneeling onstage, often at the same time, but always at least two feet apart. What a clever way of showing an emotionally provocative play without censor or employing real porn actors for the roles. I wondered if this sort of “remote,” yet mutual, sex was inspired by Zoom or OnlyFans types of engagements. Whatever, it absolutely worked! We also got to see dramatic insights into the emotional longings and what I can only label as spiritual handicaps of many in the original, fundamentalist Christian Moral Majority evangelical movement.
It’s absolutely flabbergasting to watch Seth Trucks as Jerry Falwell Jr. attempt to convince himself that threesomes are perfectly fine in the eyes of God as they aren’t expressly forbidden by the Bible, and then try to figure out at which point – if the men “accidentally” touch or become excited by each other – they move into the realm of sinner homosexuality. Every person in this threesome, while claiming to be faithful and when pushed (of course by the woman) into saying they “love” one another, nonetheless has a history (that may also be current) of multiple outside liaisons. Sara Grant as Becki Falwell plays the true center of it all (despite her husband’s kinky pleasure in his own degradation and watching her being serviced by hot young men).
I was sad to see Becki depicted so realistically as practically a cliche of the overwrought, overly emotional woman who rapidly changes her mind, demands control, yearns for true love and … at least in this play, has zero control of her sex drive. If she is so bored with her privileged life of luxury, why doesn’t she seek out other types of amusement for fulfillment? Any type of personal growth activity that doesn’t leave her so vulnerable to men – be it the authority of her husband or the attention of her latest “boy toy” lover – would do. And how does she manage to conflate her dedication to God – like getting upset when the cross on her neck gets soiled during sex – but not when the rest of her is involved in activities the church would certainly deem depraved?
I’m not saying any sort of consensual sex that gives pleasure should be berated or condemned, but don’t go preaching against all sorts of physical pleasure in the name of Jesus, including a woman’s right to her own body (and abortion), when you are out reveling and justifying doing anything you damn please – and, even worse, holding a young man hostage to your whims.
Sara Grant is quite popular in South Florida for her acting prowess, but I would nominate her for a Carbonell for her outstandingly nuanced performance as Becki Falwell in which this troubled, attractive, and naturally sexy female (did appreciate seeing “sexy” for once celebrated in an older woman) brings us on an emotional roller coaster ride of conflicting wants, desires, and constant unrequited yearning as she looks for love and acceptance in all the wrong places. We get mad at her, we can’t believe how she’s acting or the social and political nonsense she’s spouting … and yet we can’t help but feel moved by her ultimate abandonment by the two primary men in her life.
