Stephen Spinella in Angels in America- Page 4

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 4:26pm

What I am qolbinau is a 32 year-old, ugly, pock marked Jew fairy, and if it takes me a little while to pull myself together, and if I smoke a little grass before I get up the nerve to show my face to the world, it's nobody's god damned business but my own. And how are you this evening?

Updated On: 3/12/14 at 04:26 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 4:42pm

GAY MARRY ME OASISJEFF

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 5:23pm

Gotham said: "My final thought on the subject before moving on. I think that Harvey Fierstein in Torch Song Trilogy did the best job of creating a flamboyant gay man. There was a truth to his character. I don't think Tony Kushner succeeded with the truth of Prior Walter."

I'm confused. So you don't think Prior as a character works, period? It was not just Spinella playing him?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 5:25pm

"God, I've always had mixed feelings about The Boys in the Band. I'd hoped we were past all of that, but after this thread, maybe we're not. "

Past all what, exactly? The feelings? The play? Feeling negatively towards the play? I'm just kinda confused.

I saw a recent production (which did use the revised script from, I think, the last New York production--not sure about some of the character softening done to it, but oh well.) Anyway, the friend I brought hadn't seen the movie, or even a lot of theatre, and his basic reaction was that he couldn't believe it was written in the '70s and still seemed so relevant.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 5:52pm

For those who are confused, OasisJeff's shocking "sad and pathetic" and "pockmarked Jew fairy" posts have been quotes from the script for The Boys in the Band. Specifically, from Harold's still-shocking monologue when he arrives at the party:

http://youtu.be/bqrL0XfjjJU


And for those who maybe thinking otherwise, GothamPC is a longtime BWW poster who is not a gay man.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 6:02pm

"^I also loved Drover in that. It was the first thing I ever saw him do, and my crush on him was instantaneous.
'

Me too. I loved his acting and appearance. But I did tune in to GIRLS one night, and he looked awful.

Updated On: 3/12/14 at 06:02 PM

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 6:07pm

"And for those who maybe thinking otherwise, GothamPC is a longtime BWW poster who is not a gay man."

There was no good BITB dialogue that worked with that.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 6:20pm

I have to ask, what exactly is wrong with, as some of you put it, "femming up" a role? Are you suggesting that feminine or effeminate men shouldn't be portrayed on stage? If so, you may want to take a look at what you are saying. If you're suggesting that "femming up" the role of Prior Walter can't be a persuasive choice for the role, you may want to reread the play.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 6:20pm

Urie

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 6:26pm

Adam Driver

[Steve721]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 6:39pm

"Past all what, exactly? The feelings? The play? Feeling negatively towards the play? I'm just kinda confused.

"I saw a recent production (which did use the revised script from, I think, the last New York production--not sure about some of the character softening done to it, but oh well.) Anyway, the friend I brought hadn't seen the movie, or even a lot of theatre, and his basic reaction was that he couldn't believe it was written in the '70s and still seemed so relevant."

Past the self loathing, which to me has always been a big part of "The Boys in the Band". I saw the NY off-broadway revival, and while I basically enjoyed it, I've always found the play to be disturbing.

Updated On: 3/12/14 at 06:39 PM

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 6:47pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PjQx5RK-NU

Short video with Spinella , Eustis, Wolfe, Schenkman, Mantello and Harden talking about the play in its 20 the anniv.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 6:56pm

This. this right here is my idea of one of the finest acting jobs I've seen. By Jeffrey Wright as Belize. this is the best scene from the film, for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSnUw4k9jZM

Updated On: 3/12/14 at 06:56 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 9:38pm

Steve, I would say you're meant to be disturbed by it at least to some degree. In regards to the self-loathing... Namo will tell me I'm simplifying it--and I completely admit I am, but that element is still there in gay culture. It's there anywhere, to varying degrees. I don't think by showing it in BitB it's necessarily saying that that's what all gay men feel--and when you watch it now, be it as a piece you relate to or as a piece that shows something from a different generation, there's a lot more to get out of it. (I'm not saying you didn't get more out of it--I think your point is completely valid.) Regardless, I think the "types" shown in BitB still are identifiable today, as is some of the dialogue.

As for the sequel though--I've never seen it done, but, having read it... there's nothing there I felt was relate able.

Jane, I think Driver is meant to look worse for wear in Girls--but those clips are great! Thank you!

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 9:55pm

My pleasure, Eric!

[Steve721]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 10:05pm

I know BitB is meant to be a melodrama, but I've never been able to get past how cruelly these supposed "friends" treated each other. That aspect of the play simply did not seem true to me--it felt contrived. As a gay man, I've never, ever experienced anything like that from my friends. Maybe there were (and still are) such people in the world, but I'm sure glad I've never run into any of them.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/12/14 at 10:36pm

It was of its time. The fact that so many people here and elsewhere ADORED "Will & Grace" so many years after "The Boys in the Band" was always so disheartening to me. It was if nobody, the W&G creatives or its fans, had moved past that thing of treating each other horribly.

And now, if I could, I would LOVE to put a capstone on the borderline insane discussion of Prior and "femininity" while keeping in mind how relevant Panti Bliss's speech is on the topic. There's this quote from Tony Kushner:

“Fabulous. If you possess it, you don’t need to ask what it is. When you attempt to delineate it, you move away from it. Fabulous is one of those words that provide a measure of the degree to which a person or event manifests a particular oppressed subculture’s most distinctive, invigorating features. What are the salient features of fabulousness? Irony. Tragic History. Defiance. Gender-****. Glitter. Drama. It is not butch. It is not hot. The cathexis surrounding fabulousness is not necessarily erotic. The fabulous is not delineated by age or beauty. It is raw materials reworked into illusion. To be truly fabulous, one must completely triumph over tragedy, age, and physical insufficiencies. The fabulous is the rapturous embrace of difference, the discovering of self not in that which has rejected you but in that which makes you unlike, the dislike, the other.”

That's Prior Walter. That's Angels in America.

Updated On: 3/12/14 at 10:36 PM

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 4:45pm

I mean...the entire point of the role of Prior Walter is that the sissy is the hero. There's no getting around that. De-femming the role means you're not playing the role. If you want to play a butch gay as hero, find another play.

And I absolutely adore Boys In the Band. It is, of course, of its time, but it's also fearless, funny, disturbing and damn entertaining.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 4:59pm

Agreed--and just because something is of its time, doesn't mean it can't hold some relevance.

Has Kushner ever spoken much about the HBO Angels--specifically abut the casting of Prior? I've heard some bland statements--he liked it, he was closely involved, etc, but nothing specific.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 1:11am

Here's a wonderful 8-minute feature about the original production that aired on CBS 20 years ago:

https://vimeo.com/33262885

It has some wonderful B-roll footage, including the "it'd be your lucky day" line. It's wonderful to get some tiny glimpses at the original production, especially for those of us who weren't around to see it.

[inception]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 12:56am

^This footage is amazing! I didn't read this thread when it was "live." The young man who plays Prior in the current Seattle production (Adam Standley) is very fine, but seeing this footage of the OBC, you can see how amazing Spinella was. I wonder if perhaps it is too difficult for a younger generation who have not lived through those times to really grasp the reality of the role that even in these brief snippets that you can see Spinella embodied?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 1:12am

I don't think you have to worry about that. I think what actors bring to it now will resonate with audiences now. I will see Spinella in anything I can get to because he set the standard because that role is his. But it doesn't mean other actors haven't been great. My memories of Christian Borle's Prior have not diminished over time.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 1:54am

It really was a thrilling, stunning , heartbreaking, laugh out loud funny day of theatre, that cast was perfect.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 8:31am

I'm an older gay man, and I saw BOYS IN THE BAND on stage when I was first struggling to come out in the late 60s. And yes, gay social life, at least in New York City, was just like that. BitB got it right; most of the gay men I met in those days were often flamboyant but very sad (and often bitchy to their best friends, as Harold and Michael are to each other in BitB). We were desperate to find a way to feel good about ourselves, but the world was too scared of us, and we only existed in the dark bars and back rooms where we were barely allowed to congregate. Lots of us "queened it up" when we were together because we had to play straight in the outside world, and this was our chance to find our real selves. So when people put down BitB as being too negative or too bitchy, I have to tell you that's the way it often was.
As to ANGELS, Stephen Spinella was, imo, brilliant in both parts, and I'm sorry that his performance was not captured in the otherwise amazing HBO version (yes, Emma could have been better, but Pacino, Streep and Patrick Wilson were unforgettable).

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 10:28pm

I saw Spinella in several AIA workshops, years before the play reached Broadway. And I thought he was the very heart and soul of the productions.

But I'm waiting for the votes to be counted here before I decide if he was any good...