Finally, after weeks of anticipation, last night I attended the opening of “Dangerous” at Duke Energy Theatre. Not surprisingly, I LOVED IT!
Look, I know I’m biased… I’m been friends with many of the cast members for awhile, and have really enjoyed spending time with the few I didn’t already know well. But all personal views aside, I really enjoyed the show. In fact, I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised.
The script by Tom Smith has some flaws in it — without even getting into typographical errors like spelling, grammar, and even whole words missing from sentences — but director Glenn T. Griffin did a great job of patching up some of the inconsistencies in the script and easing up on the “drama” (in the “no more drama” sense, not in the theatrical sense.) Gay men in their twenties may sometimes behave like teenage schoolgirls, but there was just a bit too much of that in the script.
I have to admit, I was relieved. This interpretation of the play was more “Cruel Intentions” than “90210″ fortunately, building on the intrigue and the cold manipulation of the characters, rather than focusing on the petty games that gay men sometimes play with each other.
All of the actors delivered a good performance, without fail. Even the traditional opening night word-fumbles were kept to a minimum! A couple of actors were making too much of a big deal afterwards about minor slips that no-one in the audience would have noticed — they just need to shut the hell up and revel in a great opening night performance.
I want to give a couple of shout-outs:
- Scott Flanary as the soon-to-be-priest Trevor did an outstanding job conveying the delicate mix of awkwardness and earnestness that made the character so interesting. I told him afterwards how great he was in the role, and apologized if I sounded surprised.
- Steven Buchanan and Justin Dionne were adorable as the hesitant young men enraptured by puppy love with one another. The audience was full of “awwws” at their tender flirtations, and giggled nervously at their naiveté as their older peers shamelessly exploited them.
- Josh Bistromowitz and Hank West took two supporting roles and made them captivating and engaging, though in two very different ways. Josh’s “Landon” was sexy and devious, and Hank’s “Rosmonde” was perfectly endearing.
- Kristian Wedolowski and Sal Garcia, as the two leads, were perfectly sinister together. Even having read the script, I still was deliciously appalled at how they manipulated the entire cast, including one another.
Of course I have to make a personal comment here… Sal Garcia as Marcus was breathtaking. Watching him glide across the stage, oozing sensuality and wickedness, was both shocking and thrilling. I was SO PROUD to gleefully tell everyone I spoke to that the evil gorgeous bastard up there onstage is my boyfriend.
I can’t WAIT to see tonight’s second public performance! I think a couple of minor adjustments will help tremendously — tweaking the volume level of some of the recorded audio, and allowing time in between lines for the audience to laugh at some of the funnier exchanges, will take a good show and shove it squarely into “great” territory.
Details about the show can be found at Queen City Theatre Company website, and tickets can be purchased online at CarolinaTix. The show runs through April 18th — I will cheerfully join you for any performance you want to attend.
the opening night was amazing. here’s hoping the rest of the run goes great!!
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[...] of my favorite shows this season: Bat Boy, Dangerous, Educating Rita, Living Out, Southern Rapture, The Full Monty, and the Lieutenant of Inishmore. [...]