‘MOTHER’ IS A MARVEL
Lange shines in Vogel’s heartfelt autobiographical drama
With “Mother Play,” playwright Paula Vogel has created a deeply personal play about life with her late mother, Phyllis Rita. She surely would have been delighted to be portrayed by no less than Jessica Lange, an actress fully capable of turning her into a boozy but sympathetic hybrid of Mama Rose in “Gypsy,” Joan Crawford in “Mommie Dearest” and Tennessee Williams’ Amanda Wingfield.
Like Amanda in “The Glass Menagerie,” Phyllis has been abandoned by a man and is mostly disappointed by her children — in this case, because they are both gay. As a single mother of tenuous financial stability with little charm for landlords, Phyllis carts around Carl (Jim Parsons) and Martha (Celia Keenan-Bolger) from one Washington, D.C.-area apartment to another in “Mother Play,” now at the Helen Hayes Theatre, the home of Second Stage.
Fans of Vogel’s dark comedies across the years have met the lovably witty and sophisticated Carl before in “The Baltimore Waltz,” another autobiographical piece that chronicled his death from AIDS in 1988, devastating his adoring sister. But Vogel dives deeper into Carl’s impact on her as a young person in this most recent play, the way he functioned as a surrogate parent to “Martha” while Phyllis spiraled from one problem to another, some of her own making, some not at all.
“Mother Play,” subtitled “A Play in Five Evictions,” rambles across several decades from 1964 to the present. It’s a measure of the superb acting in
Tina Landau’s production that you easily believe the middle-aged Keenan-Bolger and Parsons as high-schoolers, just as you do the 74-year-old Lange as a woman in her 30s. The play is closely observed, drawing as it does on the things you tend to remember when you are a kid, such as your mother’s handbag and the treasures and horrors it contains, or the roaches on the fridge door.
I don’t think the “five evictions” setup fully works, especially toward the end. You never fully grasp all of the relevant personal and economic circumstances of this struggling family, seen through a glass darkly, as it were. But Landau’s direction fills these apartments with vibrant life. The play ultimately comes off as a beautiful tribute to the late 20th-century friendships between lesbians and gay men, the latter with their irony, humor and capacity for nurturing so cherished by the former as they made their way through an often unfriendly world. Never for a moment do you feel that everyone here is safe; this is a play about a childhood on the precipice of something a kid cannot fully know. Vogel never implies this is a good thing, but she shows us young characters who thrive nonetheless.
Keenan-Bolger and Parsons are veritable fonts of accessible vulnerability, which Landau expertly contrasts with Lange’s more elusive and stylized persona. It is as if Keenan-Bolger and Parsons have to fight to get into Lange’s play, which is very apropos of what Vogel is writing about here.
Especially when synced with the coming retirement of its producer, Second Stage Theater artistic director Carole Rothman, “Mother Play” has the aura of a valedictorian effort, the completion of a canon by coming home, even a push for a confirmed spot among the greats of this era of American playwriting.
Vogel certainly does not shy from her own admiration of Martha. It’s especially apparent in the final scene when she visits and cares for a mother with dementia whom the play has just shown us she has good reason to ignore. Some writers would worry about how that looked, but I suspect Vogel decided that was the truth of it. It’s her mother’s play after all. And who could argue with that?
Landlord and tenant groups made their cases before the Rent Guidelines Board on Thursday ahead of a key preliminary vote next week that will help determine potential rent increases for roughly 2 million rent-stabilized New Yorkers.
The nine-person board, appointed by the mayor and tasked with deciding on annual rent rates, heard familiar arguments from both sides during the marathon meeting, landlords asking for significant rent hikes to offset expenses and tenants asking for a rent freeze or rollback in light of a major affordability crisis and historic housing crunch.
The hearing came ahead of the board’s preliminary vote, scheduled for Tuesday in Long Island City, Queens, where they are expected to decide on a tentative range for proposed rent increases.
A recent study by the board’s staff found rent hikes of 2.5% to 4% for one-year leases and 4% to 7% for two-year leases would be needed for landlords to be unaffected by rising costs — figures immediately rejected by both sides. Landlords claim the lower figures would be insufficient, while the tenant side pointed out overall landlord incomes climbed 10.4% last year, according to a recent Rent Guidelines Board report.
Real estate industry representatives, who testified first, pointed out that that growth was concentrated in Manhattan and that some outer borough landlords with older buildings were struggling with maintenance and operating costs.
“Without sufficient rent adjustments, these buildings have no future,” said Jay Martin, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program. “The longer this board waits to address the fiscal reality facing pre-1974 rent-stabilized buildings, the worse things will get, until we reach a point where there will be no affordable housing left in the city.”
Housing advocates cited grim rates of homelessness, evictions, rent burden, food insecurity and the lasting impact of the pandemic in calling for a rent freeze.
“The situation is incredibly serious and dire,” said Lucy Block of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development. “Tenants took a huge hit during the pandemic. And while there was [Emergency Rental Assistance Program] and there was temporary assistance, there just is not a recovery.”
Leah Goodridge, a former tenant representative on the board and a tenants’ rights attorney, was critical of the power dynamic at play.
“The reality is that no one is forced to be a landlord of a rent-stabilized building,” she said. “A lot of the framework that’s provided is this sort of equivalency of someone [who] is facing homelessness, can’t afford the rent [versus] someone [who] has made a business decision that isn’t generating profits.”
The hearing was part of a series held yearly to gather input on possible rent increases. The board will also hold public meetings — typically heated events marked by emotional renter testimony — in each borough ahead of a final vote.
This week’s most noteworthy events include a free film festival in Queens, a circus troupe featuring international performers from as far as India and Ukraine, a world premiere ballet from New York’s prestigious Latino dance company and a string of shows by the “the jazz artist for the hip-hop generation.”
FILM “Invisible Beauty”
Saturday 7 p.m., Jamaica Performing Arts Center, 153-10 Jamaica Ave., Queens
This weekend’s all-free 10 Minute Film Festival features an award-winning documentary co-directed by a fashion industry trailblazer, Bethann Hardison, who started working in the Garment District before becoming an international runway model during the 1970s and helping to diversify the fashion industry as a model agency owner and activist championing change. “Invisible Beauty” features a deep dive into her life and work, with insights from her son, “A Different World” actor Kadeem Hardison, and the supermodels whose lives she touched, like Tyson Beckford, Iman and Naomi Campbell.
Free
THEATER “tick, tick…BOOM!”
Through May 19, various showtimes, George Street Playhouse, 11 Livingston Ave, New Brunswick, N.J.
Autobiographical story of Jonathan Larson, the Tony-winning composer of “Rent,” is back onstage, this time at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center.
“tick, tick … BOOM!” which was adapted into a 2021 film, revolves around the struggling playwright as he navigates his love life and experiences the early phases of the HIV/AIDS crisis, which served as the inspiration for his most famous work. Larson died at 35 in 1996,the day before “Rent” began previews Off-Broadway.
The David Saint production, starring Daniel Marconi, Cathryn Wake and John Yi, features a script consulted by David Auburn and vocal and orchestral arrangements by Stephen Oremus.
Tickets start at $25.
MUSIC José James
Blue Note Jazz Club — 131 W 3rd St, New York, N,Y., 10012
Through Sunday, 8 p.m and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note jazz club, 131 W. Third St., Manhattan.
With his new album, “1978,” the New York City artist known as “the jazz artist for the hip-hop generation” is celebrating the year of his birth.
Already proven to be a vocal virtuoso on projects dedicated to the musical legacies of Bill Withers, Billie Holiday and Erykah Badu James gets into a new groove on his self-produced album at The Blue Note jazz club in the West Village. Latin conguero Pedrito Martinez, who’s featured prominently on “1978,” joins the artist for select sets.
Tickets $35 plus a $20 minimum and additional fees
DANCE Ballet Hispanico
Through Sunday, various showtimes, New York City Center, 131 W. 56th Street, Manhattan
The late Tina Ramirez’s Latino dance organization is going strong in its 54th year with the world premieres of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s “House of Mad’moiselle,” Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s “18+1” and artistic director Eduardo Vilaro’s “Buscando a Juan.”
In Ochoa’s new piece, Ballet Hispanico performers use fans, boas and Latin dance to take on iconic female imagery found in Latin American culture through a camp performance described as a “wild romp.”
For the “En Familia Matinee” performance, the journey of Latin American culture and traditions are explored through excerpts of the troupe’s classics, such as Pedro Ruiz’s “Club Havana,” Talley Beatty’s “Recuerdo de Campo Amor” and Geoffrey Holder’s “Danse Creole.”
Tickets start at $45, $20 for Saturday afternoon’s “En Familia Matinee.”
FAMILY FL!P Circus
Various showtimes through Tuesday, Staten Island Mall, 2655 Richmond Ave., Staten Island
Just a few years into creating new magic and death-defying family fun, FL!P Circus’ 2024 tour will feature performers from Ukraine (Anastasia & Misha), India (Hasan Ansari), Mexico (Alexa Vazquez) and Czech Republic (Pavel Valla Bertini) led by by Brazilian clown Bubi Guiner.
All the action takes place under a red and white striped, climate-controlled big top tent with 800 seats.
Tickets start at $30 with children, seniors, military and handicap discounts available.
COMEDY Luenell: Live at the Apollo
Friday 7:30 p.m., Apollo Theater, 253 W. 125th St., Harlem. The self-proclaimed “Original Bad Girl of Comedy” returns to the Apollo Theater. Fresh off her “Town Business” Netflix special, produced by Dave Chappelle, Luenell is trekking across the country from her longstanding residency at Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club Las Vegas to bring her wicked wit to Harlem.
The bleached-blond comedian has become a favorite on the stand-up scene for her saucy sense of humor about everything from her time in jail to her sexcapades and traveling ordeals.
Tickets start at $39.50.
FOOD Oyster History & Shucking Class
Friday 6 p.m., Market 57, 25 11th Ave., Manhattan
As oyster season comes to a close, might as well shuck some or learn about the mollusks from the Mother Shuckers, who are hosting a special Oyster History & Shucking Class at the James Beard Foundation’s food hall facing the Hudson River.
Mother Shuckers owner Ben “Moody” Harney will serve as instructor, teaching shucking techniques to attendees who will also have the chance to engage with fellow oyster lovers.
$65 per person, includes one glass of bubbly, white or red wine.