Theater Review: The Nance

A Tender Look at a Sad Character

By Lauren Yarger
Nathan Lane gives a tender performance in Douglas Carter Beane’s newest play, The  Nance getting a run by Lincoln Center Theater on Broadway.

In burlesque, a “nance” was a male performer who pretended to be gay. For Chauncey Miles (Lane), art imitates life. He really is gay, and while this is known to his fellow performers and theater friends, Efram (Lewis J. Stadlen), Sylvie (Cady Huffman), Joan (Jennie Barber), Rose (Mylinda Hull) and Carmen (Andrea Burns), the lifestyle is not considered acceptable by 1937 society or by the cops and politicians who constantly raid and shut down burlesque houses like New York’s Irving Place where they work.

The situation is made even more tenuous when Chauncey picks up a down-on-his-luck younger boy at the local automat (a meet-up where “the boys meet the boys.") Ned (Jonny Orsini) is hungry, dirty and used to having to exchange sexual favors to ear his keep, so Chauncey’s heartfelt kindness is different. Chauncey also is surprised to discover that the boy isn’t straight, simply turning gay tricks to get by. Ned moves in to Chauncey’s bachelor pad and the two begin a relationship.  Eventually Ned is roped into performing with the burlesque show. (John Lee Beatty’s fabulous set rotates to take us from the very cool automat to the theater, and angels so that we can see what is taking place on stage and backstage simultaneously.)

Actual vaudeville routines are included throughout the script and Lane’s comic chops are put to good use. He also gives a deeply personal portrait of a man who know what he wants, but who is unable to get it. The tale is as sad as it is funny. For some reason, Beane scripts Chauncey as a Republican, however, always supportive of the party and of Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, despite his crusade to rid New York of burlesque. It’s not believable, especially when Chauncey decides to protest the censorship by performing forbidden material on stage and starts calling a certain politician’s motives into question.

Ann Roth provides the costumes for this period piece (listed as a comedy --should be categorized as a dark comedy and should also have a **MATURE advisory) for which Lane gives one of his most moving portrayals, directed by Jack O'Brien.

The Nance runs through Aug. 11 at the Lyceum Theatre, 149 West 45th St., NYC. Tickets and info: http://www.lct.org/.

Christians might also like to know:
-- Scantily clad actors (and racy costumes)
-- Nudity
-- Homosexuality
-- Homosexual activity
-- God's name taken in vain
-- Language
-- Sexual situations