'Black Tie' Review

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At the age of 80, I feel personally fortunate to have come up with what one might call a hit play, even if it is only playing in a smallish theatre for a relatively short time. I’m not at all sure I have many more plays under my belt, but even if I don’t, I can hardly complain after having written ‘Black Tie.’”—A.R. Gurney

Playwright A.R. Gurney’s newest comedy, “Black Tie,” which opened on Thursday, May 24 at the Quogue Community Hall, deftly follows Murphy’s Law: what can go wrong will go wrong, and weddings are no exception.

But the same cannot be said of the Hampton Theatre Company’s staging of the play, which tackles the foibles, often humorous, of upper-class WASPs on the eve of the nuptials of Teddy and Maya.

It all takes place in the wood-paneled, quaint suite of a hotel near Lake George, New York, in the lower Adirondack Mountains.

Curtis, the father of the groom, who is portrayed by Andrew Botsford, is dressing for the rehearsal dinner. He is wearing his father’s old tuxedo when its previous owner, Curtis’s father—played by Cyrus Newitt (an Equity actor)—appears face-to-face with his son in the mirror.

The smiling man, named Father, then enters the room, startling his son.

“How do you rehearse a dinner?” Father scoffs, after learning of the wedding and remarking that the hotel is “thoroughly undistinguished.”

Father—a suave gentleman with an aura of superiority and entitlement who can’t help but quote poetry and drop, oftentimes, useless tidbits of information—is dressed to the nines in a tuxedo, which he insists on calling “evening wear.” And though he died some time ago, he is very concerned with the present, keeping up appearances and making sure all is proper.

Curtis has no choice but to turn to Father for help.

“My son’s getting married,” Curtis said. “My only son.”

“So you’re returning to the well?” Father asked, referring to himself.

“The master,” Curtis acknowledged, leaning forward with a bow.

With ease, Mr. Botsford reverts to a childish version of himself around Father, and flawlessly bounces back into his adult character around his family members, who are actually present. As the men are busy reviewing proper hosting techniques and speech writing, they are periodically interrupted with news that the rehearsal dinner is unraveling: a guest is rearranging the seating chart, another can’t eat anything on the menu, a New York Times reporter and photographer are there to cover the “destination wedding” and a stand-up comedian—a friend of the bride—arrives, threatening to steal the thunder from Curtis’s speech.

“Everyone talks about shooting the messenger. Are there any cases of the messengers shooting themselves?” asks Curtis’s daughter, Elsie, played by Sydney Schwindt, who offers a breath of fresh air when she arrives on the stage—albeit it is usually accompanied by bad news—and represents a younger crowd.

The comedic clash of cultures and generations really picks up during the second half. Rosemary Cline, who portrays Mimi, the mother of the groom, plays opposite Mr. Botsford, just as she did in HTC’s last production, “Deathtrap.” The chemistry shows.

While she is no exception to her WASPy family, Mimi is a strong foil to her husband’s character and deceased father-in-law. She spends much of the play disparaging Father, which provides some of the most humorous segments of the play. With an ear for comedic timing, Ms. Cline coolly delivers her lines—the most hysterical of which contain four-letter words not fit for print.

The last crisis of the day is when the groom, Teddy, played by Christopher Scheer, experiences a case of cold feet and has a breakdown after a fight with his bride-to-be, Maya (who is never seen in the play). He handles the emotional side of his character with a sense of honesty and rawness that made it slightly uncomfortable to watch, as if it were an intrusion on the audience’s part.

But as the drama, directed by Diana Marbury, unfolds, the character of Father, and Mr. Newitt’s deep, velvety voice are missed, though he does pop in and out of the mirror for bolts of comic relief. Though many of his assertions are bigoted and hard to swallow, he somehow finds a way to make himself likeable. And even when the actor pauses, silent with unspoken protest or even bewilderment, he steals the show.

The Hampton Theatre Company will stage its production of “Black Tie” on Thursdays, May 31 and June 7, at 7 p.m.; Fridays, June 1 and 8, at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, June 2 and 9, at 8 p.m.; and Sundays, June 3 and 10, at 2:30 p.m. at the Quogue Community Hall. Tickets are $25, $23 for seniors, except on Saturdays, and $10 for students under 21. For more information, call 653-8955 or visit hamptontheatre.org.