#Dominic Cuskern

[papermoonstheatricaldiary]

THE LISBON TRAVIATA

January 14, 1990

THE LISBON TRAVIATA is a play by Terrence McNally. The title is a reference to a 1958 production of the opera La Traviata at Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon, Portugal. A rare unauthorized recording quickly became a collector's item among Callas's fans. The story revolves around Stephen, a depressed literary editor and opera fanatic, who is on the verge of losing his doctor lover to a considerably younger man. In Act I, he takes temporary refuge at the apartment of fellow opera aficionado Mendy to dish about divas, listen to records, and avoid thinking about his rapidly unraveling eight-year relationship. In Act II, he returns home to confront his unfaithful partner.

An early version of the play was produced at the Theatre Off Park, New York City, in June 1985. The play opened Off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I in May 1989 and transferred to the Promenade Theatre later that year (see below), with a new ending. In 1990 the play was seen in California, where McNally returned to the original (non-violent) ending.  It was also seen in London in 2003.  

The Manhattan Theatre Club production of THE LISBON TRAVIATA began performances at the Promenade Theatre on October 31, 1989 and closed on January 28, 1990.  It was directed by John Tillinger, with sets by Philip Jung, costumes by Jane Greenwood, and lighting by Ken Billington.  The cast consisted of Nathan Lane (Mendy), Dan Butler (Michael), Anthony Heald (Steven), John Slattery (Paul), with Dominic Cuskern (the voice of Allan Weeks) and Eileen Heckart (the voice of Steven's Mother).  Understudies were Robert Dorfman and James E. Reynolds.  The production won 1991 Lucille Lortel Awards for Tillinger and Lane.  

Even though I'm not an opera queen, I adored THE LISBON TRAVIATA.  I saw the revised (non-violent) ending at the Promenade but the real meat of the play is the witty banter created by McNally, who is in his element writing about opera and gay men.  Some of the play's lines still ring in my memory.  Nathan Lane is McNally's 'muse' and Manhattan Theatre Club is his incubator.  MTC also birthed McNally's Love! Valour! Compassion! and Lips Together Teeth Apart, both of which originally starred Lane.  I also saw Urban Blight and A Perfect Ganesh there, both terrific pieces of theatre. A versatile writer, he's penned the books for some wonderful Broadway musicals: Ragtime, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Rink, and The Full Monty.  I won't call him under-rated, but he is certainly one of our most cherished American playwrights and deserves all the recognition he gets.  McNally's fascination (obsession) with Maria Callas led him to write Master Class, which although I did not see on Broadway, was produced at Paper Mill Playhouse starring Barbara Walsh.  

I'd be remiss if I didn't take a moment to mention Lane's brilliant co-stars.  Heald did quite a bit of stage before finding success in Hollywood.  He joined Lane and McNally at MTC for both Lips Together and Love! Valour! but I first saw him at the Astor Place Theatre in The Foreigner. Most people now recognize John Slattery as Roger in “Mad Men.” Dan Butler is also now a screen star (and an out gay actor), who appeared in The Silence of the Lambs with Heald.  The offstage voices were provided by MTC actors at the time. Cuskern played the title role in McNally's A Perfect Ganesh and Heckart was in their Eleemosynary.

THE LISBON TRAVIATA rates 4 Paper Moons out of 5