Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The Ritz


This show about a straight man hiding from the mob in a gay bathhouse was probably funny in 1975 when it opened, but as a revival it’s dated. Luckily the evening wasn’t a total loss thanks to Rosie Perez who plays Googie Gomez, a talentless singer at the establishment who, because of the nature of the place, is often mistaken for a transvestite, much to her rage.

Perez is a gifted comedian. I’ve never seen her on stage, but I can still laugh when I think of her performance in the movie “It Could Happen to You.” She’s great here in over-the-top wigs singing show tunes -- “Peoples. Peoples who need peoples” -- in her very bad night club act.

The rest of the show, unfortunately, just proceeds in the way farces do -- lots of in and out of doors and running around -- only without the humor, at least humor that still works.

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