Stephen Spinella in Angels in America- Page 3

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 12:27pm

It's like on Will & Grace. Karen & Jack became so outrageous that they became the punchline rather than actual characters in the show.

No, it's not. It's not like that at all.

[Steve721]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 12:30pm

Yeah, I don't get the "cartoonish" comment either. Spinella fit the role so well, he didn't even seem to be acting--he just was Prior. (Of course, appearing to be effortless usually in fact requires great skill and effort.)

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 12:49pm

I think you have it the wrong way, Gothamp. The problem is not that the character can come off as cartoonish, the problem is that people think that gay men who are "queeny" (and I even dislike using that word for it) are somehow cartoonish or unreal, as if their identity performance wasn't valid or went against their "nature" of being manly.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 1:22pm

ray, for many years Emory in Boys In The Band was reviled by gay people as being too queeny. What is the difference?

I'm not saying that Prior's personality isn't valid or goes against nature. But in a culture where flamboyance has been made an art form, where drag shows and exaggeration (Wigstock for example) are used as entertainment, the case needs to be made that Prior is a real person, not just a character out of a Howard Crabtree show.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 1:24pm

"ray, for many years Emory in Boys In The Band was reviled by gay people as being too queeny."

No, that was only done by bad gays.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 1:25pm

You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but we seem to have seen entirely different shows (as, apparently, did the Tony voters and most reviewers at the time).

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 1:26pm

'Emory in Boys In The Band was reviled by gay people as being too queeny. What is the difference?'

The difference is Cliff Gorman's batsh*t crazy performance, with a put-upon lisp that sounded like a gas leak. I know people would defend his performance, but you need only look to Leonard Frey in the same movie to see an outrageous performance that works as a full human being as well.

Spinella was sensational. Brilliant.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 1:46pm

Goth, you seem to not mind gay men, as long as they arent themselves especially if they are distractingly effeminate. Something I've noticed in your posts before, I think when describing Glee. Sorry, you dont get to decide that.

Your idea of cartoon is simply reality to some. If you dont want to watch, please dont.

Anyway, Spinella was perfect in the role, and, to me, was the character speaking for Kushner.

Thompson was the weak link in the film. Her american accent as the nurse was embarrassing. LOVE her to bits, though.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 1:50pm

Thompson, as much as I adore her, really does have a problem with American accents.

The only way I can get through Primary Colors is to pretend she's wearing a night guard.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 1:51pm

"All I have is the originally published scripts. If there are newer revised versions, I would be very interested to know that."

There was quite a bit made in the press about the revisions, but I've yet to find any site or comment about exactly they were. I know Kushner likes to revise his work (which is nothing new--people are still fighting about which of the three Cat on a Hot Tin Roofs to consider as "canon").

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 1:52pm

I Think Namo implied the revised versions from Signature had been published, but I can't find them.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 1:58pm

"ray, for many years Emory in Boys In The Band was reviled by gay people as being too queeny. What is the difference?"

I can't comment on Spinella's performance. But, in the case of Emory and BitB, I always thought the reason some gay people took exception to him (and the play in general) was not due to him being so queeny, but more being so bitchy/mean and seeing that aspect as a stereotype they were uncomfortable with. Those same people seemed to have a similar issue with the play in general--a reaction that seems to have changed a fair amount over time.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 2:07pm

Oh god, Eric.

It's so much more complicated than that.

There is a kernel of several of the reasons for the backlash against the show in Panti Bliss's speech a few weeks ago.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 2:10pm

I didn't like Emma as the nurse AT ALL (in fact, I thought she LOOKED weird too). But - I absolutely adored her as the Angel.

Updated On: 3/12/14 at 02:10 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 2:12pm

My final thought on the subject before moving on. I think that Harvey Fierstein in Torch Song Trilogy did the best job of creating a flamboyant gay man. There was a truth to his character. I don't think Tony Kushner succeeded with the truth of Prior Walter.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 2:13pm

Yes, I didnt mind her as the Angel so much. She won an emmy for her hilarious performance on Ellen, playing herself. The twist in the story was that she was "outed" as an american. Her accent was terrible, but thankfully brief, and for the rest of the episode she was terrific.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 2:20pm

"I don't think Tony Kushner succeeded with the truth of Prior Walter."

I wonder what this "truth" thing is...

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 2:37pm

Well, there ya go! There is only one truth to be told, and Fierstein got there first!

Very open minded.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 2:41pm

I'd be really wary at pulling at thread of what Goth thinks any gay character's "truth" is.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 2:44pm

There is only ONE truth...now get in line!

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 2:48pm

You're a sad and pathetic man, GothamPC. You're a homosexual and you don't want to be, but there's nothing you can do to change it. Not all the prayers to your god, not all the analysis you can buy in all the years you've go left to live. You may one day be able to know a heterosexual life if you want it desperately enough. If you pursue it with the fervor with which you annihilate. But you'll always be homosexual as well. Always GothamPC. Always. Until the day you die.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 2:52pm

I heart oasisjeff.

And all without ever seeing a post of Gorp's.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 2:54pm

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Harold monologue. LOVE IT.

[Steve721]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 3:29pm

God, I've always had mixed feelings about The Boys in the Band. I'd hoped we were past all of that, but after this thread, maybe we're not.

Updated On: 3/12/14 at 03:29 PM

[binau]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 3:53pm

"You're a sad and pathetic man, GothamPC. You're a homosexual and you don't want to be, but there's nothing you can do to change it. Not all the prayers to your god, not all the analysis you can buy in all the years you've go left to live. You may one day be able to know a heterosexual life if you want it desperately enough. If you pursue it with the fervor with which you annihilate. But you'll always be homosexual as well. Always GothamPC. Always. Until the day you die."

Most of the world are socialised to believe that males should act in a certain way, and it can be uncomfortable for those who have been brought up this way to see inconsistency with this. I don't think it's "sad and pathetic", I think it is completely understandable. I used to hold prejudice views about this issue and the way they were changed was not because people were calling me "sad and pathetic" - through logical discussion I realised that people should be able to do what they want as long as it isn't hurting anyone.

Updated On: 3/12/14 at 03:53 PM