Before imbibing, I headed over to Ars Nova to catch a benefit reading of a new play by Joe DiPietro (of "Over the River..." and "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" fame (among other projects)). All the press material I had seen for the play called the play Men. Well, when I got to the theatre, the posters said the play was called F*cking Men. -Replace the * with the appropriate vowel - and it's not a, e, i, o or sometimes y.
It was a another modern day adaption of Schnitzler's "La Ronde". The play starts off with one couple, then on to another one and another one, and so on and so on... However, one member of each coupling goes on into the next scene/coupling... and then it eventually comes full circle. Hello, Again and Blue Room are also based on the same source material.
I enjoyed the play. Yes, some tweaking may need to be done, but it was a reading of a work in progress. However, what I was most impressed with was the cast assembled for the tonight's presentation (which benefited Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS as well as a Youth Outreach Program):
Logan Marshall Green (The Escort)
Chris Chalk (The Soldier)
Anthony Rapp (The Graduate Student)
Barrett Foa (The College Kid)
Robert Newman (The Married Guy)
Jerry Dixon (The Other Married Guy)
Cheyenne Jackson (The Porn Star)
Alan Cumming (The Playwright)
Peter Sarsgaard (The Actor)
Michael Cumpsty (The Mogul)
Truly a wonderful array of talent - and good looks - on that stage. And along with the usual Joe DiPietro zingers, there were some amazingly touching moments, as well as some starkly "honest" ones.
I could easily see this play becoming a sort of Vagina Monologues for gay men. Get ten actors together, two stools, two music stands, some basic lighting cues and you're all set.