Julie White and Tom Everett Scott

Douglas Carter Beane’s
The Little Dog Laughed
Open Run
Cort Theater

Starring: Tom Everett Scott; Julie White; Johnny Galecki; and Ari Graynor.

Reviewed by Wendy R. Williams

Douglas Carter Beane has created a charming, fun, fast-paced comedy of manners with The Little Dog Laughed. The play tells the story a “love that dare not speaks its name” and may be loosely based on the life of a certain celebrity you have heard a lot about lately, but of whom we certainly dare not speak.

The play is advertised with this tag line:
A movie star on the rise
An agent on the phone
A hustler on the prowl
Welcome to Hollywood, baby!

Tom Everett Scott plays Mitchell, a Hollywood movie star in New York City for an awards show who finds he has some time on his hands, an empty hotel room and a well-stocked mini bar. First he investigates the bar and then decides to let his fingers do some walking-on-the-wild-side and dial up a rent-a-boy, Alex (played by Johnny Galecki), for a bit of in-room service. Both Mitchell and Alex earnestly tell the audience, each other and themselves that they are not actually gay. For Alex, it’s a job; when not working, he is happily involved in a relationship with down-town-party-chic Ellen (played by Ari Graynor). For Mitchell, it’s just something that happens when he drinks too much.

So the die is cast; two nice boys have met and love is in the air …..But wait; Mitchell has an agent, Diane (played by Julie White). Diane is a whirling dervish of a Hollywood power-broker who has many plans for Mitchell, none of which involve having Mitchell acquire a gay lover. They are in New York for a day or two and while they are there, they are going to make good use of their multi-tasking time and purchase a gay play which they will then transform from a boy-loves-boy play to a boy-loves-girl screenplay, squashing the protesting playwright like a half-chewed pretzel on a sidewalk grate. But complications ensue (don’t they always) and Diane has a chance to show her incredible negotiation skills when she deftly creates an arrangement that would make Cole Porter proud.

I saw this play right after it opened on Broadway (it had a successful Off Brodway run earlier this year) and I absolutely loved it. Little has a sophisticated and worldly script, filled with rapier sharp repartee. Scott Ellis’ direction is skillful and fast paced; he was probably running to keep up with Miss White who attacks her role like she was the Road Runner. And the rest of the cast does a capable and talented job of portraying their roles. But Miss White is so mega talented and she so totally steals the show every time she explodes onto the stage, the rest of the cast spends their stage time trying manfully and “femalefully” to not get left in her dust. But like I said, this is a very talented cast and they are bravely suiting up eight times a week to duel with a master. So by the time you can get tickets, the game will be on.

Ticket Prices $26.25-$96.25 www.telecharge.com 212-239-6200 or 800-432-7250. For more information: www.thelittledoglaughedonbroadway.com

Cort Theater 138 West 48th Street New York, NY 10036

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Eric Bogosian’s
subUrbia
Second Stage Theatre, Off-Broadway
The Run is Over

Reviewed by Caroline Smith

Eric Bogosian’s subUrbia, set in a 7 Eleven parking lot, was littered with more than ‘ifs,’ ‘ands,’ or (cigarette) ‘butts.’ This is loitering in a place where loitering is prohibited because in the minds of the young characters, “There’s no place else to go.”

The well-maintained convenience store is run by two Pakistani immigrants, Norman and Pakeesa (Manu Narayan and Diksha Basu). The glass windows of the store are no shield to the scrutiny and racial remarks from the hangers-on outside who strew empty beer bottles and Chinese food containers across the front of the store like trash graffiti. It’s the twenty-somethings-hangers way of rejecting a culture too big for their tiny suburb of Burnfield.

Tim (Peter Scanavino) has returned from Iraq and his liquor-soaked tongue slurs a boatload of resentment. He guzzles his past down with six packs of beer, occasionally escaping to the store’s rooftop in an effort to raise himself up off the curb. Jeff (Daniel Eric Gold) is upset about more than his failing relationship with girlfriend Sooze. His analytical outlook on the world hinders his potential for action. The audience sees the play’s humanity in Jeff. Jeff dreams of asserting himself, but he lacks the will.

When Pony, the classmate who “made it” (played by Michael Esper), enters the scene, Jeff and Tim can’t help but point out dents in Pony’s success. Because it’s far easier to find the flaws in Pony than to acknowledge his courage in getting out of the neighborhood. Pony’s return shakes them all and Sooze, played by Gabby Hoffman, is inspired by more than just his singing talent. She seeks Pony’s support to go to New York and pursue her own art - the kind of support she doesn’t get from Jeff.

The stage was caffeinated by Kieran Culkin’s performance. Ironically, his pot-smoking-apathetic-character Buff brought the most energy to the show. Within this group of friends, Buff may have had the least direction and concern for his future; but his character brought more than comic relief to the story. His antics stood as a reminder that the pains of ‘growing up’ don’t have to exclude some joy.

In short, subUrbia is an angsty tale about a generation that can’t see past themselves because they simply haven’t lived long enough. They search for answers to questions beyond the red lights and yellow veined roads of their small suburban town. But despite all the liquor and drugs they consume, they can’t quell their fears for the future. Quiet character Bee (Halley Feiffer), finds her own way of silencing these fears and this leads a sad and unexpected ending of the play.
Although Bogosian updated his 1994 play to suit today’s iPod and cellular world, I’m uncertain how it will age. The re-telling of it didn’t seem to add any extra fizz; this convenience store tale of ‘growing up’ just felt flat.

subUrbia was skillfully directed by Jo Bonney.

Second Stage Theatre |307 West 43rd Street