➤ HAPPY BIRTHDAY, from p.24
one identifi es as genderqueer.
“The word is assaultive and assumptive,”
he declares, without
irony.
We also meet the loud, obnoxious
married couple, Harrison and
Jackson, new parents enjoying
a rare night out away from their
baby daughter, Thessaly.
Christopher, perhaps in his late
60s, is the oldest guest at the party
and brings a historical perspective
to the proceedings. A serial namedropper
who mentions legends like
Tab Hunter and Roddy McDowall,
he recounts how he and his partner
never had an open relationship
due to fear of contracting HIV.
“We went through so much and
lost so many,” he says.
It’s a supremely poignant moment
in an otherwise fi zzy play.
Doug’s ex-boyfriend, Steven,
humblebrags about becoming engaged
and working on a Netfl ix
show. He is somewhat horrifi ed
at the wild, drug-fueled shenanigans.
“It’s just… Wednesday,” he says
fl atly.
As delivered by Droege, it’s the
funniest line of the night.
There’s even a visit from the
ghost of Oscar Wilde, master of the
drawing room comedy, which this
piece recalls. Wilde is quick to distill
a key theme in the play.
“Every one of us is just a trembling
collection of nerves and desire,
occasionally stumbling upon
victory,” he observes. “Bitch, we’re
all doing the best we can.”
Finally, we meet the host himself,
sloshed, who delivers a scathing
➤ GRAND HORIZONS, from p.24
often falls fl at. Jane Alexander as
Nancy has real moments when the
confl ict and sadness of the character
resonate. Priscilla Lopez gives a
funny and heartfelt turn as Clara,
a character whose primary function
is to serve as a foil for the more
contained Nancy. Michael Urie, as
usual, is the best performance in
the piece. Aside from an awkward
scene with a potential trick (Maulik
Pancholy), his role is the least
comedic, and he fully captures
Brian’s unsettled sadness and his
outsider status in the family. It’s a
speech assessing the evening’s
events.
“Happy Birthday Doug” is every
bit as caustically delightful
as the previous effort. Droege has
brought his original team — Urie
is now the lead producer, and Tom
DeTrinis (associate producer and
understudy for Droege in “Bright
Colors”) is now the director. Urie,
by the way, currently can be seen
stealing scenes in “Grand Horizons”
on Broadway.
While Droege does an impressive
job delineating each character,
I wanted more. Perhaps a
quick change of shirt or glasses
would not only help distinguish
each guest, but would amp up
the hilarity (think of the zany
outfi ts on “Schitt’s Creek,” for instance).
Throughout the entire
piece, Droege wears a rumpled,
beige button-down shirt (no doubt
meant as a blank canvas) that no
character in this play would ever
dare wear to a party.
To be sure, “Happy Birthday
Doug” is a wryly observed appraisal
of gay culture. You will recognize
your friends, maybe even yourself,
in Droege’s uncanny portrayals.
Let’s face it — for generations,
certain gay men have been preoccupied
with appearances, booze,
drugs, and birthday parties.
If this is how Doug celebrates
his 41st birthday, imagine what
the bash was like for his 40th.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOUG | SoHo
Playhouse, 15 Vandam St., btwn.
Sixth Ave. Ave. & Varick St. |
Through Mar. 1: Thu.-Sat. at 9 p.m.;
Sun. at 3 p.m. | $49-$59 at HappyBirthdayDoug.
com | One hr., no
intermission
performance with depth and nuance
that shows what this play
might have been.
With such dynamic Black
playwrights as Suzan-Lori Parks,
Jordan E. Cooper, and Jeremy O.
Harris, to name just three, writing
contemporary plays about race,
Roundabout’s staging of Charles
Fuller’s “A Soldier’s Play” seems
curious. Whatever one thought of
“Slave Play” or “Ain’t No Mo,” those
two shows from last season were
undeniably risky, visceral, and
➤ SOLDIER’S PLAY, continued on p.26
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