WE FELL FOR NEXT FALL

Nothing like wolfing down a couple of slices of pizza before a show but Tuesday night’s 7:00 pm curtain at most Broadway theatres often leads to a rushed dinner if the demands of the day run past 5:30 or 6:00 pm, which was the case last Tuesday when we saw NEXT FALL.

Not a great start to the evening but definitely uphill from there. Geoffrey Nauffts’ well written script follows the lives of a gay couple who meet at a party, fall in love and move in together. Adam, ably played by Patrick Breen, is a 40ish nebbishy kind of guy who obsesses about almost everything, while Luke (Patrick Heusinger) is a good looking twenty something aspiring actor who is far more carefree, except when it comes to religion. Adam, you see, is either an agnostic or an atheist (never really clear which) while Luke is a devout Southern Christian, who believes without question that acceptance of Jesus as the son of God is the only way that one can get into heaven. This extreme dichotomy between the characters gives rise to much of the very interesting storyline.

Just as Adam is leaving for home to attend a reunion that Luke decides not to attend with him, they have words over the religion thing and we learn much later in the play that Luke was in a terrible taxi accident right after Adam left, which will ultimately lead to his death.

Wilson Chin’s scenes very cleverly and easily switch back and forth between the hospital waiting room and Adam & Luke’s apartment. The cast is rounded out by Cotter Smith as Luke’s father Butch, another devout Southern Christian who threatened to forbid Luke’s younger brother from ever seeing him again if he ever found out that Luke was gay (did we forget to mention that unlike Adam, Luke was not out to his family?) Connie Ray as Luke’s free spirited mother, apparently had little to do with his upbringing (Luke’s parents are divorced but amicable), Maddie Corman as Adam’s best friend Holly and Sean Dugan as Luke’s gay (but not out – another Christian fundamentalist) former best friend Brandon.

Much of the story line revolves around the difference between Luke and Adam’s religious beliefs and Luke’s parents not knowing that their son is gay. Towards the end of the play, Adam tells Luke’s mother that they were lovers and while Cathy was sure that Luke’s father also knew, Jeff was just not convinced of this.

Although Adam was sometimes annoying and Brandon at first seemed to have a stick you know where, the actors meshed quite well together and were clearly all very well cast. We cannot think of a boring moment in this show; we never looked at our watches and walked out talking about what might have happened to the characters after what was revealed on stage, all signs of a very well written, acted and produced play. Don’t miss this one.

Next up (after Cathy’s birthday): AMERICAN IDIOT