Susan Granger’s review of “The New Century” (Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, 2007-2008 season)
In the four short monologues that comprise “The New Century,” prolific Paul Rudnick, who has written plays like “Regrets Only,” “Jeffrey,” “Valhalla,” “I Hate Hamlet” and “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told I” and whose screenplays include “In & Out,” “Jeffrey” and “Addams Family Values,” focuses on gay-themed angst.
We’re first introduced to Helen Nadler, a stoically supportive, yet acerbic Long Island mother (Linda Lavin) whose children constantly ‘surprise’ her with their sexual preferences; as a result, she proclaims herself “the most tolerant mother of them all.”
Then along comes Mr. Charles, a flamboyantly swishy Palm Beach public-access television personality (Peter Bartlett) with his buff boy-toy Shane (Mike Doyle) and a confused receptionist (Christy Pusz) who wants to be sure her baby grows up to be gay.
After the intermission, there’s Barbara Ellen Diggs (Jayne Houdyshell), an accomplished Decatur, Illinois, craftswoman who, somehow, connects her life’s work with the AIDS death of her grown son in the Big Apple, shortly before 9/11.
The episodic quartet concludes with the titular segment, as the various, cliché-ridden characters collide and consider their futures in a Manhattan maternity ward where Nadler’s granddaughter has just been born.
Paul Rudnick’s greatest asset is his dialogue; he gives adroit actors some very amusing one-liners. But the flimsy, often forced and contrived concept – that “The New Century” is about acceptance – seems not only dated but somewhat monotonous, despite director Nicholas Martin’s crisp pacing, William Ivey Long’s eye-candy costumes and Doyle’s full-frontal nudity.
Homosexuality has been out of the closet for some time now – and there’s not much new here. As a result, “The New Century” comes across as loosely connected, decidedly underwhelming “Saturday Night Live” skits that never made it to prime time.