"Two Gentlemen of Verona" a review

My experiences at the Papp theater have mostly been good ones. The Kevin Kline and Meryl Streep 2001 performance of Chekhov's "The Seagull" was absolutely masterful (also including wonderful performances by Natalie Portman and John Goodman.) Being within a stone's throw of such A-list actors on a gorgeous summer evening in my beloved city's central oasis, all while not costing me a simple red cent was another great reminder of why I love New York City, even in the sweltering, smelly summer.

Just last year, when I found myself with quite a bit of free time thanks to a shattered heel bone (now recovered) I found it a wonderful use of that free time to lounge out in front of the Delacourt Theater to go see Sam Waterson (Law & Order) Kristen Johnson (Third Rock from the Sun) and Jimmy Smitts (The West Wing) in a graceful, elegant, yet at the same time, silly and playful faithful interpretation of the comedy "Much Ado About Nothing."

So when I heard that the summer's first play "As You Like It" was dull and all in all lousy, I had some lower expectations fore this summer. Although, the second play of the summer looked interesting. . . a musical version of Two Gentlemen of Verona. Well, for me, it wasn't a summer in NYC without an outing to the Papp Theater free shows in Central Park, so I was quite excited when Grandma called me to let me know she had secured me a ticket for Sunday evening's show. Going to the Papp with Grandma was also a summer tradition I was proud to upkeep. I went in with high expectations, which can often be a mistake, but I'm happy to say, was not in this case. The play was fantastic.

I'm not sure Will Shakespeare would agree, or even recognize the play as his own, as infused with Carribean music and dance themes (Even the conductor was a shapely woman dressed in a string bikini top and grass skirt) with bright, gaudy "Age of Aquarius" costumes and wild pop cultural references in their musical numbers. The plot is easy enough to paraphrase. Two friends are off to Milan from Verona, one of which (Proteus) has just professed his love to a Ms. Julia, sealing his passion with one hot night before leaving, resulting in an unexpected pregnancy. His friend Valentine swears off love all together, only to fall for Sylvia the daughter of the Emperor of Milan, who is engaged to a doofus, and also becomes the object of affection of the less-than-faithful Proteus. Madness ensues and everything ends up all right in the end.

Proteus is played by Oliver Isaac, a short, cute, curly-haired charmer who's shining moment is a Funky, Jamaican themed song about how he wants his friend Valentine to be happy, but not as happy as he. Valentine, also a wonderful performance by the tall, gorgeous, dark-skinned Norm Lewis, who becomes only upstaged by the hillariously seductive rump-shaking Renee Elise Goldsberry as Sylvia. Ms. Goldsberry has quite a few credits under her belt including Nala in Broadway's The Lion King and a recurring role in the now-ended series Ally McBeal.

Mel Johnson as The Duke of Milan also puts on a flashy performance including a scathing, obvious send-up of our "Commander in Chief" with a song all about sending troops out to war, and only bringing them home if he gets re-elected. His personal guards were dressed like Michael Jackson gang members from the Bad music video.

The play is a remake of of the original 1971 musical "Two Gentlemen of Verona" starring Raul Julia and Clifton Davis, which is why much of the sets, themes, and costumes seem so evocative of musicals of the 70's, including "Fame" and "Hair." It was also most likely coincidence that I saw a play fully infused with Carribean themed music, costumes, and dances on the day before the West-Indian day parade, but it was a welcome change from what we normally expect from a Shakespeare performance.

The references to 21st century pop culture were also quite a welcome laugh, including Sylvia's prodigal soldier-lover Eglamour (Paolo Montalban) a gorgeous and self-centered beefcake, who it seems radiates such studly confidence that he does away with the Duke's guards with a wave of the hand a la "Jedi Mind Trick." When faced with the two friends from Verona, all vying for Julia's love, he's joined by a group of black-clad ninjas , and when engaged in battle, leaps into a mid-air rotation (assisted by said ninjas, due to lack of CGI effects) obviously evoking the stop-motion scenes from the 1999 hit "The Matrix."

And no, the cheap laughs and unbearable cuteness don't end there. The greatest secondary-role-of-the-night of the night goes to John Cariani as Speed, Proteus' servant who does Shakespeare in a goofy California surfer-dude accent erupting laughs from the crowd with each bumbling shake of the head and bounce about on stage.

And of course, the dog. A sweet, obedient Golden retriever who coaxed laughs from the crowd for the five times in a row he looked away from his master, who bemoaned the fact that the dog showed no sorrow for his master's leave. Yeah, it was a cheap and easy cloy for laughs, but that was exactly what the audience was in store for.

I could continue ranting about the joys of the play including the one Hollywood name: Rosario Dawson's passionate Spanish rantings (Mira! Ay, Conyo!) Amidst her Shakespearean line. Or of course the absolutely juvenile song and dance number for Sylvia's fiance, the bumbling stooge Thurio in which the chorus goes: "Fuck-fucka-wucka-wucka-Cock-cocka-locka-locka-puss-pussa-wussa-wussa" but I need to air my grievances for one area which was severely lacking: The utterly two-dimensional blocking.

See, I had tickets for seats off of stage-left. And the actors, when engaged in dialogue, every time faced each other with their profiles to stage center, leaving everyone on stage right or left staring at the back of one head which perfectly blocked the face of the other actor. I know it's impossible to engage the entire audience at all times, but there should have been more effort, and more movement around to give everyone in the crowd the opportunity to see the actors' faces.

Even so, in a time of tragic circumstances both at home and abroad, a throw-classical-tradition-to-the-wind version of Shakespeare, gaudy, childish, goofy and fun was just what I needed after this sweat-soaked summer, and from the sounds of the rest of the audience, it was just what they needed too.