A Catered Affair

 

A CATERED AFFAIR by four- time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein is a moving, beautifully staged, new musical currently playing at the Old Globe in San Diego for a pre-Broadway run. It is based on the movie by the same name written by Gore Vidal with the original teleplay by three-time Academy Award-winning
Paddy Chayefsky. Tony Award- winning director John Doyle and exciting new composer John Bucchino are part of the creative team. Besides Fierstein the cast includes Tony Award –winning Faith Prince, Tony Award –nominated Tom Wopat, the talented Leslie Kritzer and the handsome Matt Cavenaugh. All these stellar artists alone are enough to recommend this new musical.

The story is a simple one and involves a family in turmoil over a decision by the mother (Faith Prince), with lots of pressure from the nosy neighbors and suffering from the death of her soldier son, to give her daughter a lavish catered wedding in attempt to make up for the dysfunctional family dynamics. Faith Prince is magnificent as the mother. I had only seen her do comedy but here she breaks your heart with a masterful portrayal of a woman caught in a seemingly loveless marriage. I see another award or two in her future. Tom Wopat shows a new dimension to his acting with his aching rendition of a quiet blue- collar cab driver who is trying to do the right thing by sticking around despite being blamed for the family’s problem. Matt Cavenaugh and Leslie Krister are touching as the couple that just wants to run away to get married with the least amount of fuss. I enjoyed the nosy neighbors, especially the inimitable Sheila MacRae as Dolores the caterer.

Harvey Fierstein plays the pushy uncle who Fierstein now portrays as gay but emotional needy live-in family member. At first he does some of the broad comedy an audiences expects but soon settles into a character that, for me, was the heart of the show. My God he even sings and sweetly at that. Throughout his career, Fierstein has always been in projects that celebrate love in all its varied often-unexpected forms. He’s a yenta for togetherness: a regular pied piper of love. I wish his character had interacted more with the young engaged couple. The couple needs to be developed further and Harvey would be the perfect foil. Watching A CATERED AFFAIR, I couldn’t help think of LIGHT ON THE PIAZZA that was my favorite musical in recent years. I do think the play needs to be expanded however to assure success. Another suggestion would be to save the reveal about the cab until the final scene with no foreshadow on the phone. With these adjustments, unless the NYC critics are too cynical, audiences will like this plea for love in the midst of chaos. I think we need to be reminded of the importance of love after several years of insanity in this country. The lovely score makes us think about our lives and the lives of others through the remarkable use of prolonged silences where everything stops long enough for us to rediscover the beating of our collective heart

OLD GLOBE THEATRE Balboa Park San Diego until Nov 4  619 234 5623