The only way a stage drama works as a movie is when it is filmed as is, and in the theater. Or the playwright can be persuaded to rewrite/adapt it, especially for the screen for as a different medium it requires different scripts.
Actor turned writer/director James Andrew Walsh did neither of these and proceeded to film his debut play in his own house turning his potentially funny script into a tough-to-watch dud of a film. Queerguru viewed the World premiere of the movie at Miami OUTshine Virtual LGBTQ Film Festival. Drawn to the film because the cast boasted Tracie Bennett (Tony & Oliver Award Nominated for her definitive performance as Judy Garland) and Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie but even they couldn’t escape this movie unscathed Essentially this was a comedy about a group of friends gathered at a remote seaside home for a long weekend. The friends have come together at the invitation of James, a playwright (Drew Droege), in order to help him hash out a play he’s writing about Roman Emperor Hadrian and his much younger male lover. Jay (played by Urie), a truly dreadful actor wants the part but is way out of his capabilities. Charlotte ( Bennett), a has-been star is more interested in getting inebriated than in James’s play. Then there is Callisto (Kario Marcel), Jay’s hunky boyfriend who is all charm and looks and little else. All the acting is so exaggerated (and hammy) as if they were trying to be heard and noticed at the back of the stalls in a theatre. That soon gets very weary. So too does the rapid-fire one-liner quips. many of which fail to land. |
Walsh’s queer references remind us that he has written this for an older gay audience, but I think even they should wait until the drama is played on a stage where it belongs.
Labels: 2021, comedy, Michael Urie, Tracie Bennett
