If you were a gay man deemed “too gay” by fellow New York gays, where would you go from there? For the flaming and fabulous Mr. Charles, one of three main characters in Paul Rudnick’s The New Century, the answer was Palm Beach, where he has hilariously taken a position as host of a late-night cable talk show called “Too Gay.”
With help from his younger boy-toy Shane, an “assistant” whose outfits seemed to get skimpier with every costume change, Mr. Charles works the crowd with a winning combination of lowbrow jokes, sharp one-liners and unhinged personal asides. Rather than answer a question about whether he appreciates gay theatre, this iconic diva fires back with “I am gay theatre!” … and then launches into a flashy monologue that speeds through gay theatre history via a string of quotes from famous queer plays.
Judging by how well audiences responded to Mr. Charles’ antics in The New Century as produced by Plays of Wilton (POW), perhaps he would’ve been more at home in South Florida if he’d taken the Tri-Rail a few stops south. As the organization’s artistic director Ronnie Larsen jovially pointed out in a pre-show speech, gay theatre has been straight up thriving in Wilton Manors lately, not only at POW’s home venue of the Foundry but at two neighboring theaters (Empire Stage and Island City Stage) which are also dedicated to producing LGBTQ-focused works.
The New Century is no exception, and in fact has already proved so popular that I could barely wrangle a seat! Less of a traditional play than a triptych of three near-monologue mini-plays that unite for a shared conclusion, this playful work has just enough substance to provide a satisfying container for the comedy that was clearly Rudnick’s main focus.
And though the piece has a thoroughly queer sensibility, it isn’t actually a play I would call “too gay” to be appealing to general audiences, in part since the segment focusing on “too gay” Mr. Charles is sandwiched between two others in which the anchor characters are mothers who must reckon with the sexualities of their queer children rather than gay themselves.
In the opening segment, the fact that Helene’s three children are coming out of the closet faster than she can cope with it is basically the whole bit, and it’s a heck of a fun one for anyone who thinks they’d enjoy seeing a hapless boomer confronted with way more wokeness than she can handle. Actress Beverly Blanchette imbues Helene with a haughty Karen-ish vibe that gives us permission to laugh with wild abandon at her expense while still making her sympathetic enough to give her story’s resolution a real punch.
In the final vignette, the humor comes from character Barbara Ellen’s kooky crafting obsession and small-town sensibilities, which provide the punchy framework suiting the tone of the play while allowing it to delve into a somewhat more grounded and affecting story. As Barbara, Betty Ann Hunt Strain sells many of the sillier jokes by making it clear that the character is taking what she says absurdly seriously, and her aura of innocence adds a punch to the moments that puncture the purity of her quaint worldview.
But the real MVP, of course, is Michael Gillespie as Mr. Charles, whose total commitment to the character’s over-the-top persona and animated physicality made him a joy to watch. As Shane, John Provasnik is also essential to this scene’s success with his physical comedy contributions and shines even more when given more dialogue in the final scene.
Completing the five-member ensemble is Stephanie Manner as Joanne Milderry, a young mother in Mr. Charles’ orbit. Though this character gets a lot less stage time than the rest of the bunch, one of my favorite exchanges in the play was actually one in which Joanne compares his bold and colorful life to her restrained and colorless one.
Though humor is definitely The New Century’s main selling point, there are enough poignant moments like these scattered throughout the piece to make the characters worth caring about as they try to reckon with their changing world and what it means for the century ahead. Whether you’d like to contemplate any of those moments for yourself or just want to enjoy some colorful queer comedy, let me remind you now that you have far less than a century to catch this one. It will be running only until October 25th at the Foundry in Wilton Manors, and given that only a few tickets remain for the show’s final weekend, you had better secure yours now!
Ilana Jael earned her MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Sarah Lawrence College and a BA in Writing and Psychology from Florida Atlantic University’s Wilkes Honors College. She also served as co-founder of the student theatre troupe “Theatre in the Raw.” She has been dabbling in both playwriting and acting since high school. A few favorite roles include Rebel in Columbinus (Bob Carter’s Actor’s Rep), The Fearful One in The Cave (G-Star School of The Arts), and Amanda in The Glass Menagerie (Theatre In The Raw). Her one-act plays Goodbye, Karma’s A Bitch, Certainly Not About Him, and Open Heart have also been previously performed at Actor’s Rep and/or at Florida Atlantic University. More recently, Ilana appeared in and created the original musical ZeeZou’s Stardust Extravaganza with Area Stage’s Miami Queer Theatre Collective. Her short plays have been produced virtually by New City Players, Theatre Lab, and Femuscripts. She is also a current company member of New City Players, and you can check out her theatre blog at ilanaintheatreland.com!
