Theatre Review

The Tedium of Sexual Perversity
Dated play a poor choice for Alliance Theatre Lab

Jehane Serralles, David Sirois, Bertha Leal and Travis Reiff in Sexual Perversity in Chicago.

This is how Adalberto Acevedo begins his director’s note in the program for Alliance Theatre Lab’s production of Sexual Perversity in Chicago: “Ask any director or actor to list ten shows that they MUST do before they hang up their grease paint and makeup bags and guaranteed “Sexual Perversity in Chicago” will make an appearance on that list.”

Really, Adalberto? Really?

Acevedo’s sweeping generalization speaks more to his love of Mamet’s first successful play than anyone else’s. That would be the only explanation for choosing this dated play for Alliance’s last production of the year. But one would think that love would also spur the director to carefully craft a production, and cast it with actors who can do Mamet justice. Mamet is a lot like Shakespeare—there’s a rhythm to the dialogue, and if actors can’t find that rhythm, it ends up being an incomprehensible mess. And unfortunately, that’s what we get: 90 minutes with unpleasant characters portrayed by actors who are ill-equipped to invest them with any humanity or depth.

Sexual Perversity in Chicago, first produced in 1974, launched Mamet’s explosive career and established the building blocks of a Mamet play: graphic language and testosterone-fueled exploits. The play follows Danny (David Sirois) and Deborah (Bertha Leal) from their first meeting to the end of their romantic relationship. Two other characters, Dan’s friend Bernie (Travis Reiff) and Deborah’s friend Joan (Jehane Serralles) spend the play spouting their own bitterness about the opposite sex and relationships.

The cast of Sexual Perversity in Chicago at Alliance Theatre Lab.

David Sirois has displayed talent in other shows, but in Sexual Perversity in Chicago it’s as if he’s given up by the first scene. Even so, his lackluster performance as Dan is better than Reiff’s one-note bombast as Dan’s best bud Bernie, an obnoxious misogynist. Leal and Serralles don’t fare much better in what amounts to supporting roles.

As for the design elements, Alliance manages to pack a lot of different locations onto their small stage, but the set is clichéd—the main bedroom set is done in garish red and black and looks more like a brothel than anything else. The lazy sound design, credited to cast member Reiff, amounts to a primer on the music of David Bowie primer—is Bowie really the best 1970s-era artist to underscore the sexual plights of working class characters in Chicago?

Sexual Perversity in Chicago is very dated, and not in that cool retro way like “Mad Men,” the AMC TV show set in the early 1960s in which the sexual politics between men and women also play a big role. Acevedo probably thought he was making a hip, edgy choice for Alliance, but this play is too passé and this production too pedestrian to fit that bill.

Sexual Perversity in Chicago runs through November 22 at the Main Street Playhouse, 6766 Main St., Miami Lakes. For more information, visit www.thealliancetheatrelab.com.

Theatre Review

Flora Rises to the Occasion
Actress shines in rarely produced musical at Rising Action

Chris Costa sweeps Christina Groom off her feet in Flora the Red Menace.

Rising Action Theatre’s last production may have been about baseball, but the Oakland Park company hits a home run with Flora the Red Menace.

I have to admit I was skeptical when the Kander and Ebb musical was announced; Rising Action has carved out a loyal audience in the local gay community with seasons featuring lots of gay standards, female impersonators, and, of course, gratuitous frontal nudity. But then again, Flora, one of the duo’s earlier works, was the vehicle for 19-year-old Liza Minnelli to earn her first Tony award—a fact Rising Action has hyped at every opportunity—so there was plenty of audience appeal, even if the show would surely prove to be a stretch for the small, low-budget company.

Minutes into the performance, I realized this would not be the usual Rising Action production. The same old community theater washouts who seem to turn up in every production were nowhere to be found. The stage was filled with an energetic cast of trained performers who could sing, dance and, ironically, act.

A diminutive, but dynamic Christina Groom owned the stage, channeling not Liza Minelli, but rather giving a glimpse of how Sutton Foster might attack the role of the idealistic, irrepressible young illustrator who finds herself in the middle of a Communist Party cell in Depression-era New York City. A remarkably balanced cast of supporting actors and actresses supported Groom as they dodged into and out of a number of roles, thanks to a 1987 rewrite that condensed the cast down to nine performers. Scott Hindley (Kenny) particularly shined as an aspiring dancer, delivering a very clean tap performance, accompanied by partner Maggie, portrayed by Lissen Ellington. Kitt Marsh provides plenty of comic relief as Flora’s cartoonish foil, Charlotte, and Rick Pena successfully advances the story as the narrator, among his many other roles.

Christina Groom takes a stand in Flora the Red Menace at Rising Action

Kudos aside, the show and this production are not without their flaws. Despite the rewrite that makes Flora accessible to smaller companies with limited resources, the story loses steam in the second half and ends on a dissatisfying weak note. I was not the only one who left the strip mall theater asking myself if that was “it” and wondering about Flora’s fate. Where was the closure? Audiences like closure—and happy endings. Maybe that’s why the show has largely been mothballed for so many years.

Chris Costa and Christina Groom in Flora the Red Menace

Director Kevin Coughlin stretched Rising Action’s tight resources in a number of ways that worked and others that simply didn’t: the recorded music tracks on an electronic piano sound tinny and cheap and ultimately prevent the kind of spontaneous vocal performances that could be achieved with a conductor and live musicians (or even a live pianist); while the minimalist set works, lighting and sound execution need to be finessed and currently distract from the performers rather than enhance their efforts; and young leading man Chris Costa (Harry) delivers an adequate performance, but never quite nails the role of the stuttering, idealistic young Communist or achieves any romantic chemistry with Groom.

Despite a few missteps, Rising Action’s Flora the Red Menace is their best production to date and could prove to be a turning point as the company tackles more ambitious shows.

Flora the Red Menace runs through November 22 at Rising Action Theatre, 840 E. Oakland Park Blvd., Oakland Park. For more information, visit www.risingactiontheatre.com.

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