Bananas Comes Up Three Times for Edie Falco Award Jackpot
By Lauren Yarger
Edie Falco (of TV’s “Sopranos” and “Nurse Jackie” fame) goes Bananas and hits the Broadway awards jackpot -- earning Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Tony Award nominations for her role as a mentally unbalanced woman in The House of Blue Leaves.
Falco is superb as the aptly named Bananas, the frail and damaged, but resilient woman forced to endure humiliation and degradation by her husband, Artie Shaughnessy (Ben Stiller) who is fed up with caring for her and wants out so he can marry their downstairs neighbor Bunny Flingus (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Bunny encourages Artie, very strongly and with relentless persistence, to pursue his dream of being a songwriter while helping him sling insults at Bananas as he forces medication down his wife's throat to quiet her protests about his plans to commit her to the institution nicknamed the House of Blue Leaves
The tension comes to a head during a 1965 visit to New York by the Pope. Bunny insists they go to see him so he can bless Artie’s career. Just in case that doesn’t work, Bunny forces Artie to contact his old childhood pal Billy Einhorn (Thomas Sadoski) who has made it big in Hollywood to see if he can land him a job writing music for the movies. The plan might backfire, however, because Billy has a soft spot for Bananas and encourages Artie to stick by her.
Billy’s hard-of-hearing girlfriend, Corinna Stroller (Alison Pill) pays a visit, for reasons that aren’t clear, as does the Shaughnessy’s AWOL son, Ronnie (Christopher Abbott) who has plans to blow up the pontiff amidst protests over the war in Viet Nam. Abbott nails the funniest scene in the play, where Ronnie describes his childhood hopes of landing the film role of Huck Finn in one of Billy's movies.
If all that sounds a little incohesive, it is, as quite a lot of John Guare’s play is rather bizarre, with a lot of random action tossed in soley for a laugh. The bits don't move the plot along, however, and the first act, in particular, drags. Three nuns (Mary Beth Hurt, Susan Bennett and Halley Feiffer)implausibly show up in the messy Queens apartment (Scott Pask, set design) and a policeman (Jimmy Davis) and another character identified as White Man (Tally Sessions) also are thrown in for good measure.
A reviewer colleague told me that the play, which starred Stiller's mother, Anne Meara, as Bunny Off-Broadway in 1971 and in which Stiller made his Broadway debut playing Ronnie in the 1986 Broadway revival, is supposed to be a farce. Some of the more bizarre elements do seem like they might be intended for the genre, but the subject matter seems too dark for a successful farce, however. If it worked in the previous productions, it sure doesn’t in 2011, even with the talented David Cromer directing. In fact, his presence seems oddly absent.
In addition, Designer Brian MacDevitt makes some odd choices with lighting. Sometimes parts of the audience find themselves lighted, almost as if something is about to take place in the house, but the action remains on stage. At other times, it’s hard to see. Jane Greenwood designs the ‘60s era costumes.
Falco’s performance makes it worth the trip, however. She’s truly riveting.
The House of Blue Leaves plays at the Walter Kerr Theatre, 219 West 48th St., NYC through July 23. For tickets call 212-239-6200.
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God's name taken in vainFalco is superb as the aptly named Bananas, the frail and damaged, but resilient woman forced to endure humiliation and degradation by her husband, Artie Shaughnessy (Ben Stiller) who is fed up with caring for her and wants out so he can marry their downstairs neighbor Bunny Flingus (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Bunny encourages Artie, very strongly and with relentless persistence, to pursue his dream of being a songwriter while helping him sling insults at Bananas as he forces medication down his wife's throat to quiet her protests about his plans to commit her to the institution nicknamed the House of Blue Leaves
The tension comes to a head during a 1965 visit to New York by the Pope. Bunny insists they go to see him so he can bless Artie’s career. Just in case that doesn’t work, Bunny forces Artie to contact his old childhood pal Billy Einhorn (Thomas Sadoski) who has made it big in Hollywood to see if he can land him a job writing music for the movies. The plan might backfire, however, because Billy has a soft spot for Bananas and encourages Artie to stick by her.
Billy’s hard-of-hearing girlfriend, Corinna Stroller (Alison Pill) pays a visit, for reasons that aren’t clear, as does the Shaughnessy’s AWOL son, Ronnie (Christopher Abbott) who has plans to blow up the pontiff amidst protests over the war in Viet Nam. Abbott nails the funniest scene in the play, where Ronnie describes his childhood hopes of landing the film role of Huck Finn in one of Billy's movies.
If all that sounds a little incohesive, it is, as quite a lot of John Guare’s play is rather bizarre, with a lot of random action tossed in soley for a laugh. The bits don't move the plot along, however, and the first act, in particular, drags. Three nuns (Mary Beth Hurt, Susan Bennett and Halley Feiffer)implausibly show up in the messy Queens apartment (Scott Pask, set design) and a policeman (Jimmy Davis) and another character identified as White Man (Tally Sessions) also are thrown in for good measure.
A reviewer colleague told me that the play, which starred Stiller's mother, Anne Meara, as Bunny Off-Broadway in 1971 and in which Stiller made his Broadway debut playing Ronnie in the 1986 Broadway revival, is supposed to be a farce. Some of the more bizarre elements do seem like they might be intended for the genre, but the subject matter seems too dark for a successful farce, however. If it worked in the previous productions, it sure doesn’t in 2011, even with the talented David Cromer directing. In fact, his presence seems oddly absent.
In addition, Designer Brian MacDevitt makes some odd choices with lighting. Sometimes parts of the audience find themselves lighted, almost as if something is about to take place in the house, but the action remains on stage. At other times, it’s hard to see. Jane Greenwood designs the ‘60s era costumes.
Falco’s performance makes it worth the trip, however. She’s truly riveting.
The House of Blue Leaves plays at the Walter Kerr Theatre, 219 West 48th St., NYC through July 23. For tickets call 212-239-6200.
Christians might also like to know:
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