When Joey Married Bobby, Measure For Measure, Hard Times

 
When compared to the other off-off-Broadway gay comedies that spring up with frightening regularity, When Joey Married Bobby is harmless fun and worth seeing for the pricelessly funny performance of star Tina McKissick. She plays Sarah Edwards, a pushy Southern socialite throwing a gay wedding for her son, Joey (the handsome Matt Pender), while not jeopardizing her chances of winning Christian of the Year from her ultra-conservative Baptist church. Though the script by John William Gibson and Anthony Wyatt Morris vacillates wildly between razor-sharp hilarity and silly, sophomoric inconsistency, McKissick spins comedy into gold with the stage presence and comic timing of a young Rue McClanahan. Whether battling with her domestic help (a no-nonsense Jennifer Banner Sobers); lending a warm shoulder to Joey’s HIV+ best man (a terrific William Yoder); fighting with her mother-in-law (an unleashed Deborah Johnstone) or kissing up to the minister’s wife, Charity Divine (played to the hilt by Lady Bunny), McKissick is utterly hysterical—and deserving of a more worthy vehicle for her talents.
 
If you missed the superb production of Measure for Measure at St. Ann’s Warehouse four years ago, now’s your chance to see a more sedate version at the Duke by Theater for a New Audience. Directed by Arin Arbus, the production features mostly good performances, especially by Jefferson Mays as the Duke, Alfredo Narciso as Lucio, and Rocco Sisto as Angelo, the deputy put in charge during the Duke’s absence. Shakespeare’s troubling drama about corruption is excellent food for thought.
 
Another classic being given a fresh spin is Stephen Jeffreys’ 1982 stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Hard Times at the Pearl, Hard Times takes aim at the Industrial Revolution as well as the Utilitarian movement, which Dickens perceived as putting reason above imagination and emotion. Six industrious actors play multiple roles, and while half the time those roles fit beautifully—notably Dominic Cuskern’s Blackpool—other times they’re a bit of a stretch, as with Sean McNall’s Sleary. Clocking in at well over three hours, Hard Times is definitely for the Masterpiece Theater set but it does have its rewards.   N
 
When Joey Married Bobby plays Theater 80 St. Marks (80 St. Marks Pl, 212-388-0388, WhenJoeyMarriedBobby.com). Measure for Measure plays through March 14 at the Duke (229 W 42nd St, 646-223-3010, New42.org). Hard Times plays through March 28 at City Center (131 W 55th St, 212-581-1212, NYCityCenter.org).