Golden Age

Golden Age

City Center Stage 1

Saturday, January 12, 2pm 

I’m trying to catch up on some missed reviews, so although it’s been weeks since Trish and I saw Golden Age, I’ll try to wring my aging brain for recollections. 

First off, thank you TDF for a lovely set of third-row, center orchestra seats!  All the better to view Lee Pace in all his dreamy glory. 

The opera purists and fact-checkers in the audience will likely take issue with Terrance McNally’s fast and loose interpretation of history (not to mention the musical and verbal anachronisms).  But no matter, this is a comedy about the creation of art, not a historical drama, and McNally creates a believable backstage microcosm where the plentiful use of modern four-letter profanity doesn’t seem out of place. 

Lee Pace - did I mention how dreamy he is? - has the charm and charisma to make the egocentric Bellini a likeable, even sympathetic, figure.  He’s a man that is never satisfied musically (or sexually, for that matter).  Pace plays these proclivities with a refreshing matter-of-factness.

Bebe Neuwirth, as the diva Maria Malibran, is the only character in the play that is completely aware of her incredible talent as well as shortcomings.  She accepts and acknowledges the decline of her voice, yet is the only artist lacking in self-doubt. 

Malibran’s appearance - in flaming red gown, natch - may not be the most subtle symbol, but opera queens will recognize the comparison McNally offers.  What is most preferable, a perfect technique lacking in emotional depth or a flawed instrument connected to a vibrant emotional core?  Po-tay-to, Pa-tah-to - though from my interpretation, it seems McNally endorses the latter.

Though at times the script reads like a high-concept sitcom, McNally plays with the inherent insecurities of performers and artists, while scrutinizing the audience's ideas about art and the creation of art.  

It's an enjoyable afternoon with an eccentric group of characters, but I wish McNally had either pushed the comedy further into true farce territory, or gone a much darker route with the psychological breakdown of Bellini and/or the dueling sopranos.