Theater
Most Fabulous, Indeed
by D.L. Groover

Gay writer Paul Rudnick has been on a lucrative roll ever since the winsome I Hate Hamlet hit Broadway in 1990 with an irascible (and usually drunk) Nicol Williamson playing ghostly John Barrymore. Rudnick’s hits have included the bitchy Jeffrey, the wild black comedy of Addams Family Values, and the easy charm of In & Out. His only bomb (and it was a big one) was the ghastly and inept one-acter On the Fence, a comedy (comedy!) about Matthew Shepard’s last hours, which had Eleanor Roosevelt and Paul Lynde battling for his soul.  

Rudnick likes to prick the conventions of middle-class society, be they gay or straight, and his rapier wit can oft be on a par with Wilde. His work is neither politically active like Tony Kuschner, nor sentimental like Terence McNally. He’s sort of a gay Neil Simon, in the best sense, and his plays are screamingly funny.  

One of his nuttiest is Theatre New West’s latest foray The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. Taking off from the right wing’s mantra–if God had wanted us to be gay, he would have created Adam and Steve–Rudnick irreverently romps through a very gay reading of biblical history, starting naturally enough with Adam and Steve who share the Garden of Eden with lesbians Jane and Mabel. In his skewed view, the practical women invent the wheel and the notion of God, while the gay men are responsible for rejection, canapés, and "shampoo and conditioner in one." Act II brings the foursome to contemporary Manhattan on Christmas Eve where the women’s commitment ceremony, presided over by a wheelchair-bound Jewish lesbian rabbi, is interrupted by the birth of butch Jane’s baby.  

Most Fabulous Story is so perceptive, trenchant, and stuffed with laughs that Theatre New West’s impresario Joe Watts has wanted this comedy for two years. When the Southwestern rights suddenly opened up, he bumped the campy spoof Christmas With the Crawfords off his schedule to make room.  

"It’s been a play I’ve had a real heavy passion for," Watts says. "I think the whole play is brilliant. During rehearsal we’re constantly finding new things in it. You know, it’s spooky; the actor playing Adam is named Adam [Clarke] and the actor playing Steve is named Steve [Bullitt]. I didn’t cast them because of their names, but because hopefully they’re going to be wonderful in their roles."  

Little Room Downstairs’ powerhouse portrayer of Brandon Teena, Natalie Maisel, plays bull-dyke Jane, and newcomer Jenny Yau is bubble-headed Mabel.  

There’s also nudity, to be sure. We’re in pre-shame Garden of Eden for Act I, don’t forget, and then taken on a quick trek through wicked old Sodom, as well as pharaonic Egypt and Christmas Eve in ancient Judea.  

Watts, a tireless promoter of the community, holds special benefit performances for each show he’s producing, and Most Fabulous Story is no exception. Thursday, December 6, benefits Projects Inc., brainchild of Michael Peranteau, co-founder of the Center for AIDS and former executive director of DiverseWorks. Since its founding in April 2000, Projects Inc. provides all manner of services to small community-based nonprofit organizations that can’t afford such counseling and assistance. His organization offers advice on board development, staffing, and fundraising, as well as initiating community programs such as State of Emergency, last year’s acclaimed installation at Project Row Houses detailing the rise of HIV in Houston’s black neighborhoods.  

Peranteau’s unsung, behind-the-scenes philanthropic work cuts across the community, here in Houston with Aurora Picture Show, Houston Buyers Club, and Abled Women; in L.A. with a hip-hop youth drug program; to groups in El Paso and Austin. Peranteau’s greatest coup, however, is getting Houston’s major AIDS organizations and clinics sitting down in one room for a series of monthly retreats and breakfast meetings. Historically, the diverse groups have not been bosom buddies, so just getting them assembled and talking to each other is a positive step. They’ve just met for the third session, and Peranteau’s justifiably pleased.  

"I’ve always wanted to have some sort of a vehicle where the executive directors can talk among themselves, organize, and figure out who’s doing what and where they can go for funding. That’s gone really well."  

When Watts approached Projects Inc. to be the beneficiary of the pre-opening show, Peranteau readily agreed, happy to have the exposure. "I know Paul Rudnick’s work, and I also know one of the actors in the play. From what I remember reading about the NY production, it’s pretty sacrilegious in terms of organized religion, and it sounds like a fun play. And I like Joe’s productions."  

A worthy cause coupled with a Rudnick comedy. And nudity, too. Who could ask for anything more?  

The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told: Dec. 7—Feb. 2; Fridays & Saturdays only, Theatre New West, 1415 California, 713/394-0464, $20. Projects, Inc. benefit performance: Thurs., Dec. 6, 8 p.m. $20 & $50, 713/426-5314.

Abandon Hope, All You Dos Chicas Jean-Paul Sartre, father-of-all existentialists, wrote his mother-of-all existential plays in 1944 while teaching in Paris by day and working for the French resistance by night.

Unhinged Gay Romancers

Ah, the ups and downs of gay love receive quality treatment in a twin bill from Unhinged Productions. The men get theirs in David Alan Morrison’s comedy So, I Met This Guy. Unbeknownst to the new boyfriends, they both have a mutual friend in common, their girlfriend who’s writing a romance novel. Research can be fun, just handle it with care. The distaff side is represented by Patti Aldredge’s SW premiere Fly Away. Big-city lesbian Belinda is being buried. Urban liberality (lovers of the deceased) meets the tightly wound country folk of west Texas (the clueless relatives) in this irreverent free-wielding portrait of love without boundaries. • So, I Met This Guy and Fly Away, Thursday through Saturday, through December 15, Unhinged Productions, 3304 LaBranch, 713/524-8707. $15, $12 seniors/students.

Baby, Take a Bow

One of the most comprehensive theater websites, www.theatermania.com, has added a new feature to their extensive listings of reviews, interviews, and out-of-town listings (and in-town–yes, Houston’s rich offerings are easily available with a click of your mouse). If you’re not afraid to fly to the Big Apple and don’t want to stand in line at the TKTS booth for half-price tickets, then go online and get your discounts for same-day performances. Print out the receipt and hie to the box office to pay for your tickets. Curtain up!