A Naked Girl on the Appian Way Review

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 1:18am

One of the things you have to give the Roundabout Theatre credit for is its courageous support of new works by playwrights for the stage. They have supported the work of Richard Greenberg before, but also other American playwrights such as Paula Vogel. It is no small thing to bring a new work by an American playwright to a Broadway house and it doesn't happen that often given the vast expense of producing in these venues.

Roundabout has a slight advantage in that it is a non-profit theatre (wish there were so many more at this level) with a dedicated and loyal subscriber base. Roundabout offers a mix of new, classic and musical shows and is able to offer top talent such as Brian Bedford, argued to be the world's best classicist of Moliere in English. I have seen Frank Langella, Liev Schrieber, Emily Bergl and many other fine classical actors in the various theatres that Roundabout has occupied.

A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, Greenberg's new comedy, can't be easily pegged. It's a send-up, it's over-the-top, it roams and ambles. It is almost the deconstruction of a comedy, a comedy of a comedy, or a comedy on top of a comedy. The naked girl referenced in the title, with the benefit of hindsight I would have expected to be a mythical something someone sees before they fall helplessly in love, [SPOILERS FOLLOW] yet the parents who see her first are already married and seeing her on their honeymoon. The only conclusion I can draw of the reference of the title, which may be a stretch, is that we are all naked creatures who have hidden Dionysian, or since it's Italy, Bacchanalean desires leading to other-than-expected behaviors which will eventually be revealed.

Greenberg sets us up with a softly liberal, well-off Hamptons' couple in a pleasantly elegant and modern home. The parents, Jill Clayburgh and Richard Thomas have writing careers. I am not sure why Greenberg didn't set the parents up as stuffy conservatives to be thrown topsy turvy by liberal children, but perhaps he thought that would be too easy. And perhaps not tenable where he attempts the feat of using a kind of counter-racism as comedy. The couple's three adopted children of different races, Latin/Dominican, Caucasian and Asian in the characters portrayed by Susan Watson, Matthew Morrison and James Yaegashi, all become objects of a barrage of racist comments mostly coming from Mr. Yaegashi which at times are a kind of "victim humor" and other setups for humor that is unexpected.

Greenberg seems to have an intellectual expanse over the play that is a little hard to grasp over the first viewing and I think would become more evident the second time you see the play. For example, before Mr. Morrison enters he is told by his sister not to head in a different direction (next door) but to walk into the home instead. The reason for this becomes clear near the end of the play but initially you may think this means he is seriously handicapped which he doesn't turn out to be.
(CONT.)


Updated On: 11/24/05 at 01:18 AM

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 2:06am

Jeffrey and Bess Lapin's daughter Juliet (Watson) is something of genius working on an esoteric thesis and has been off on an extended trip to Europe. Her brother Thad (Morrison) had accompanied her and the two are returning home, feeling compelled to inform their parents that they are now lovers! Thad is portrayed as a gymnastic character who reminds me of Gumby in his physical antics. Though his family members view him as loveable, yet limited in intellectual gifts, he proves quite capable of thinking, shall we say, outside the box, and comes up with the best piece of smoking reasoning in the play. Mr. Morrison carries off this kooky role with an accessible warmth and light-heartedness.

Remaining brother Bill (Yaegashi), a bisexual librarian, is furious to discover the news and rages that he has been left out of what could have been a menage a trois. Disloyal siblings! His parents try to spoon feed him to nurse his wounded libido, I mean pride, but his torment will out with slashy comedy, which Yaegashi delivers with relish and good comic timing.

There are also two women from next door, Elaine (Leslie Ayvazian) and Sadie (Ann Guilbert) who have shared a husband and a son and have a comedic war of their own which they parry at the Lapins to add a little more dressing to this tossed salad of a forty-some ingredient household.

The show is running without intermission and I do think it works like that. After a bit of a slow start it picks up its pace and the punch lines are well-delivered and well-received by the audience, so that it zips by. In the American Airlines intimate house, this should have a well-attended run.

(END)

Updated On: 10/14/05 at 02:06 AM

Posted: 10/14/05 at 7:02am

Hmmm I didnt think Thad getting 'stuck' on his entrance had anything to do with going next door, even on second viewing. Granted shes being sarcastic but I really believed he was distracted by something at that point. Of course how they got home from the airport without being picked up and the neighbors dramatic explanation of why life is so difficult right now has everything to do with the kids & next door.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 10:26am

[SPOILER]
You may be right Mistress. But what I thought after the play was that neighbor Elaine had arranged to meet them to take care of the baby, perhaps had picked them up from the airport. And if the baby was at the house next door, Thad may have expected to stay with the baby rather than separate and that was what was attracting him next door...

Let me know if that analysis works when you see it again, Mistress. I was trying not to give the spoiler away.

Updated On: 10/14/05 at 10:26 AM

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 11:56am

And did you notice, Mistress, that even Ben Brantley acknowledged and conceded how well Mr. Morrison had carried off Thad Lapin, even drawing an indirect comparison to THE Marilyn Monroe with that Gentlemen Prefer Blondes quip? That made me smile.

Do you think Mr. Morrison will give us a Hamlet, a Henry V or an O'Neill's Edmund in A Long Day's Journey Into Night so we can see him in a classic role? I'm sure it's much more fun to do comedy, and when you are a triple threat, musicals, but I have my fingers crossed...
Updated On: 10/14/05 at 11:56 AM

[Kringas]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 6:02pm

Ooh, I'd like to be compared to Marilyn Monroe. I often am, actually.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 6:07pm

Gumby? Can you elaborate, please?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 6:16pm

Yes, absolutely.

Gumby is green, like that naked statue that you first see in Piazza. And Gumby is a tall slim critter who's like, a really elastic dude. And made out of um, like some stretchy material so he can fit into any role or position.

Gumby's like, acrobatic. And when Gumby's in action he can do like, zillions of cartwheels and handsprings and leap over anything, like the furniture in the Lapin's house. He could even breakdance and do like, one-handed handstands. And he moves really, really fast.

So that's why he's like Mr. Matthew James Morrison. Whom I have never met.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 6:17pm

Gumby rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[Kringas]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 6:30pm

So, like Gumby, the aforementioned actor could state at any given time, "I'm Matthew James Morrison, dammit!"

No?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 6:37pm

He could even sing it rock n' roll in very high notes.

"Oh-ooh yeah, I'm Matthew James Morrison, dam-am-ammit!"


Updated On: 10/14/05 at 06:37 PM

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 6:57pm

Anna, I didn't know they compared you to Marilyn Monroe, too!

Curly-haired men have all the fun.

Who else thinks Matthew Morrison

MATTHEW JAMES MORRISON

reminds them of Marilyn Monroe?

[Kringas]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 6:59pm

Well, the comparisons are mainly because I did it with a Kennedy.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 7:06pm

Well, that can't be the reason why Ben Brantley compared Mr. Morrison to Marilyn Monroe. There isn't a Kennedy in the cast of A Naked Girl on the Appian Way.

So can anyone give any enlightenment as to what it is about Mr. Morrison, Mr.

MATTHEW JAMES MORRISON

that causes him to be compared to that great star of the screen, Marilyn Monroe?

Posted: 10/14/05 at 7:21pm

id love to see Matt do something by shakespeare. according to his latest q&a, his plans are to keep people guessing so who knows what hes doing next.

i noticed the male bimbo comment in Brantleys review, it made me chuckle.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 7:37pm

Well, Mistress, I am glad Mr. Morrison is leaving his options open so that he might consider taking a Shakespeare role at The Public or Shakespeare in the Park, or maybe trouncing that Ralph Fiennes on Broadway in a duel (showing those Brits for once and for all that yes! American actors can do Shakespeare).

I can think of some in Tennessee Williams, but I wonder if there are any Marilyn Monroe-like characters in Shakespeare that Mr. Morrison, Mr.

MATTHEW JAMES MORRISON

(whom I have never met)

could portray?

[wickedwitchofthechest]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 7:42pm

Perhaps they have/had similar vocal ranges?

I've always found Richard II to be a bit Monroe-ish. I'd like to see Matthew Morrison try his hand at it.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 7:58pm

Richard II could be a stretch, but that Gumby could do it.

Well I haven't heard Mr. Morrison sing "Happy Birthday" yet so I can't tell you how much he really sounds like Marilyn Monroe in his vocal range, and frankly, I don't think she ever took on scores as challenging as that of The Light in the Piazza, but the singing voice may be a place to start as his notes certainly go high enough to bang a few holes in the ozone layer.

Any other Marilyn Monroe-like roles from Shakespeare that

MATTHEW JAMES MORRISON

should be cast to portray?

[wickedwitchofthechest]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 8:23pm

Lavinia from Titus Andronicus reminds me a bit of Marilyn Monroe (speak no evil, sign no evil, incite unclean thoughts in the minds of men). It would be truly sad for our Mr. Morrison to have to be voiceless, but from his performance in Piazza, he seems quite gifted with gesticulation.

Also, most of the cast of Othello, with the exception of Iago, seem to have the same gullible quality that Marilyn Monroe parlayed into a career. I'd like to see Matthew spray-painted ebony, like they did to the chorus of Aida (the opera) when last I saw it.

As a side note, I believe Gumby is made out of Playdough, that magical substance manufactured for childhood consumption.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 8:51pm

Nope, Witchie, having munched the occaisional piece of playdough in nursery school, I can assure you Gumby was not made of playdough. Playdough breaks apart and can be eaten, obviously, without resultant loss of consumer life assuring that more playdough will be purchased. Gumby, however, stayed all in one piece, like Mr. Morrison, no matter how he stretched.

Hmmm... Do you think Ophelia had Marilyn Monroe-like qualities such that he could take a skirt-role stretch to embody her?

And what else is there about Mr. Matthew James Morrison that causes him to be compared to the great Marilyn Monroe...?

[wickedwitchofthechest]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 9:16pm

Marilyn Monroe had curly hair, too, of course, although it was somewhat straightened for most of her movie roles.

Ophelia was unbalanced, so I'd say she definitely shared some qualities with Marilyn. Both were also fond of swimming. I could see Matthew James Morrison bringing a more Marilyn Monroe spin to those qualities in his portrayal of Ophelia, but as she was originally a man, I don't know if it would serve his Gumby-like talents all that well. Perhaps he could grow a mustache for the role.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 9:18pm

I love this subject heading.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 9:39pm

Yes, it truly is a difficult query, whether for critic, the BFA or MFA lauded, Tony applauded, director, playwright, fellow cast member or mere abject fan...but someone has to jump into the playdough here up to their elbows and do the tough analysis...

Is Matthew James Morrison more like Marilyn Monroe or Gumby?

And why?

Posted: 10/14/05 at 10:21pm

well, id sooner compare him to a cartoon character than a sex icon most any day but the fact that he said "wakka wakka wakka" last time I saw him is probably really skewing my opinion.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 10:42pm

Hmmm...

"wakka wakka wakka"

What can it mean...?

We may need a third category...



Updated On: 10/14/05 at 10:42 PM