Yank!, The Boys in the Band

The Boys in the Band
 
With its inspiration firmly in the Rodgers & Hammerstein handbook, the abundantly charming Yank! is a delight. Sure, with its reliance on sketchy supporting characters that fall perfectly in line with war movie clichés, you could pick apart the book if you wanted to, but why bother? The score, by out brothers Joseph and`1 David Zellnik, is a surprisingly tuneful collection of 1940s pastiche delivered by a top-notch cast starring Bobby Steggert and Ivan Hernandez as Stu and Mitch, soldiers who meet and fall in love despite Stu’s photography assignment with Yank! Magazine and Mitch’s growing discomfort with his sexuality. There’s real chemistry between Steggert and Hernandez, particularly the scene when they first kiss on a train that’s as palpable and heartbreaking as anything on stage in New York. Their army buddies are robustly brought to life by a superb supporting cast including Jeffry Denman as a toe-tapping reporter who takes Stu under his proverbial wing, and the indefatigable Nancy Anderson, who plays all the women in the show with real verve style. Yank! may be small in size and production values but its heart is as big as the love story it tells. Don’t miss it!
 
Director Jack Cummings’ inspired, site-specific revival of Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band for The Transport Group has several considerable problems, including the miscasting of a key role and the wrong tone that permeates the second half. However, what it gets right, which is also considerable, is pretty terrific. Starting with the great idea to stage the play in a penthouse apartment with the audience intimately surrounding the action, the first half of Boys sails by like a whirlwind on Sandra Goldmark’s kaleidoscope of a set. Hosting a birthday party for his friend Harold (badly played by Jon Levenson in a pale imitation of Leonard Frey, who originated the part Off-Broadway and in the film), Jonathan Hammond has the makings of a sensational Michael, but he gives too much too soon as he gets drunk and starts annihilating his guests. Cummings should have reigned him in a bit more and toned down all the shouting and yelling that precedes Michael’s histrionic breakdown at the end. Graham Rowat and Christopher Innvar are excellent in their respective roles as Hank and Larry, a couple who argue throughout the evening about whether or not their relationship should be monogamous; as are Nick Westrate as Michael’s current boyfriend, Donald; and Kevyn Morrow as Bernard, the group’s lone African-American. A deceptively difficult play that’s as hard to put together as a good soufflé, this Boys in the Band is flawed but still recommended, especially for younger gays who have never seen this important piece of our history.   N


Yank! plays through April 4 at York (619 Lexington, 54th St entrance, 212-935-5820). The Boys in the Band plays through March 28 at Penthouse (37 W 26th St, 212-352-3101).