The Best Man by Gore Vidal, the first production for the new Geneva Underground Playhouse, is like a good term paper written the night before it’s due. Rushed and sloppy, but surprisingly watchable for being done in haste. First, a synopsis, lazily culled from Wikipedia but with the Geneva cast’s names inserted:
“William Russell (Steve Lord) and Joe Cantwell (Thom Holtquist) are the two leading candidates for the presidential nomination of an unspecified political party. Both have potentially fatal vulnerabilities. Russell is a principled intellectual. A sexual indiscretion has alienated his wife Alice (Cindy Pierce). In addition, he has a past nervous breakdown to live down. Cantwell portrays himself as a populist ‘man of the people’, but is a ruthless opportunist, willing to go to any lengths to get the nomination. Neither man can stand the other; neither believes his rival qualified to be President.
“They clash at the nominating convention and lobby for the crucial support of dying former President Art Hockstader (Eric Schwartz). The pragmatic Hockstader prefers Russell, but worries about his indecisiveness and overdedication to principle; he despises Cantwell, but appreciates his toughness and willingness to do what it takes. In his opening-night speech, he endorses neither.
“One of Russell's aides digs up Sheldon Marcus (Dean Sasman). He served in the military with Cantwell, and is willing to link him to homosexual activity while stationed in Alaska during World War II. Hockstader and Russell's closest advisors press Russell to grab the opportunity, but he resists.” And here we’ll end the quoting, to preserve the Mystery.
Hands down, the best performance belonged to Schwartz as the feisty ex-President. Part of this lies in the fact that Vidal sketches the character in all shades of gray, whereas Russell and Cantwell, while not cartoony, each hang out in the white & black lobbies, respectively. The other part lies in Schwartz’s assurance. He creates a friendly but no-nonsense man who wants what’s best for the country and isn’t overly enthused about the choices he sees before him. Hockstader has a lot of funny lines and Schwartz snaps them out expertly. It is a fine job.
Sasman was very funny as a mouthy, nervous dweeb who holds the most powerful men in the country in check. A prospective President and an ex-President are in the room with him because they need his information and these titans cannot shut the man up.
Holtquist tended to play Cantwell as Evil rather than as just a mean bastard who shouldn’t be president. I would have liked to have seen more shading in the role, but for the choices he and the director made, he was extremely good. Or, rather, extremely bad; villainous.
Steve Lord as Russell was problematic. The forcefulness of his convictions was hobbled by the fact that his grasp of his lines was not tight. They sat in his hands like a cat that just heard a can opener in the kitchen. This was sad because Lord obviously had the talent to do the role. Maybe a couple more weeks of rehearsal would have helped, because at times he was assured and then he was very good indeed. More on this in the Director Section coming up.
Rick Pierce as Russell’s campaign manager often had a deer in the headlights look that shouted loud as can be to God and all his angels, “I have no idea what I’m supposed to say next! I will sacrifice a virgin to you if you give me my line.” He occasionally called someone by the wrong character name. Given the dearth of male actors in the area, I can understand the need to put him onstage, but in a major role in a witty, erudite play?
Dana Knudson (Cantwell’s campaign manager) and Jerome Urbik (a senator) were both very good actors, but the play is set in 1960. Goatees and masses of curly hair did not exist on politicians in 1960, except maybe in Cuba.
Millie Collins Schwartz was a stitch as a political big wig representing the Woman’s Viewpoint – meaning staying at home and cooking your husband a fine meal while bringing him his slippers and pipe (possibly between your teeth). The joke is that she is anything but that type of woman, wielding enormous clout and getting her own way at every possible turn.
For the most part, Carol Bair Calzaretta’s direction was clean and to the point. She did the best she could with a tiny tiny stage and an enormous couch. Scene changes were handled relatively well. There were little issues, like having an antsy Russell proclaiming, “I can’t sit still!” just as he plants himself on a couch and sits still. The major thing needed was an adjustment due to the line situation, since they evidently did not have a sufficient rehearsal period. The major confrontation between Russell and Cantwell consisted of Lord and Holtquist standing at opposite ends of the couch and battling from there, never breaking the pose. And I know why – to increase the tension by emphasizing words over movement. Problem: Lord knew the words well enough to say them, but not well enough to put the tension behind them. This rendered the planted feet ineffective; they needed to circle each other like wolves.
At this point, you have one performance left to see. I think you should go. The Best Man is an excellent, witty, intelligent script and needs to be seen. Its strength was demonstrated by the fact that the faults I’ve listed did not render the show unenjoyable. You should go check out this new theater company and give them a break, because things will pick up as they find their footing. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, it is possible they had an off night. If the lines and resulting confidence of performance are there, you’re going to see a good production of a rarely done, terrific script
Information here: http://www.genevaundergroundplayhouse.com/
“William Russell (Steve Lord) and Joe Cantwell (Thom Holtquist) are the two leading candidates for the presidential nomination of an unspecified political party. Both have potentially fatal vulnerabilities. Russell is a principled intellectual. A sexual indiscretion has alienated his wife Alice (Cindy Pierce). In addition, he has a past nervous breakdown to live down. Cantwell portrays himself as a populist ‘man of the people’, but is a ruthless opportunist, willing to go to any lengths to get the nomination. Neither man can stand the other; neither believes his rival qualified to be President.
“They clash at the nominating convention and lobby for the crucial support of dying former President Art Hockstader (Eric Schwartz). The pragmatic Hockstader prefers Russell, but worries about his indecisiveness and overdedication to principle; he despises Cantwell, but appreciates his toughness and willingness to do what it takes. In his opening-night speech, he endorses neither.
“One of Russell's aides digs up Sheldon Marcus (Dean Sasman). He served in the military with Cantwell, and is willing to link him to homosexual activity while stationed in Alaska during World War II. Hockstader and Russell's closest advisors press Russell to grab the opportunity, but he resists.” And here we’ll end the quoting, to preserve the Mystery.
Hands down, the best performance belonged to Schwartz as the feisty ex-President. Part of this lies in the fact that Vidal sketches the character in all shades of gray, whereas Russell and Cantwell, while not cartoony, each hang out in the white & black lobbies, respectively. The other part lies in Schwartz’s assurance. He creates a friendly but no-nonsense man who wants what’s best for the country and isn’t overly enthused about the choices he sees before him. Hockstader has a lot of funny lines and Schwartz snaps them out expertly. It is a fine job.
Sasman was very funny as a mouthy, nervous dweeb who holds the most powerful men in the country in check. A prospective President and an ex-President are in the room with him because they need his information and these titans cannot shut the man up.
Holtquist tended to play Cantwell as Evil rather than as just a mean bastard who shouldn’t be president. I would have liked to have seen more shading in the role, but for the choices he and the director made, he was extremely good. Or, rather, extremely bad; villainous.
Steve Lord as Russell was problematic. The forcefulness of his convictions was hobbled by the fact that his grasp of his lines was not tight. They sat in his hands like a cat that just heard a can opener in the kitchen. This was sad because Lord obviously had the talent to do the role. Maybe a couple more weeks of rehearsal would have helped, because at times he was assured and then he was very good indeed. More on this in the Director Section coming up.
Rick Pierce as Russell’s campaign manager often had a deer in the headlights look that shouted loud as can be to God and all his angels, “I have no idea what I’m supposed to say next! I will sacrifice a virgin to you if you give me my line.” He occasionally called someone by the wrong character name. Given the dearth of male actors in the area, I can understand the need to put him onstage, but in a major role in a witty, erudite play?
Dana Knudson (Cantwell’s campaign manager) and Jerome Urbik (a senator) were both very good actors, but the play is set in 1960. Goatees and masses of curly hair did not exist on politicians in 1960, except maybe in Cuba.
Millie Collins Schwartz was a stitch as a political big wig representing the Woman’s Viewpoint – meaning staying at home and cooking your husband a fine meal while bringing him his slippers and pipe (possibly between your teeth). The joke is that she is anything but that type of woman, wielding enormous clout and getting her own way at every possible turn.
For the most part, Carol Bair Calzaretta’s direction was clean and to the point. She did the best she could with a tiny tiny stage and an enormous couch. Scene changes were handled relatively well. There were little issues, like having an antsy Russell proclaiming, “I can’t sit still!” just as he plants himself on a couch and sits still. The major thing needed was an adjustment due to the line situation, since they evidently did not have a sufficient rehearsal period. The major confrontation between Russell and Cantwell consisted of Lord and Holtquist standing at opposite ends of the couch and battling from there, never breaking the pose. And I know why – to increase the tension by emphasizing words over movement. Problem: Lord knew the words well enough to say them, but not well enough to put the tension behind them. This rendered the planted feet ineffective; they needed to circle each other like wolves.
At this point, you have one performance left to see. I think you should go. The Best Man is an excellent, witty, intelligent script and needs to be seen. Its strength was demonstrated by the fact that the faults I’ve listed did not render the show unenjoyable. You should go check out this new theater company and give them a break, because things will pick up as they find their footing. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, it is possible they had an off night. If the lines and resulting confidence of performance are there, you’re going to see a good production of a rarely done, terrific script
Information here: http://www.genevaundergroundplayhouse.com/
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