The Lisbon Traviata

u don't have to be an opera buff to appreciate Terrence McNally's opus on the subject. But it helps to be familiar with the names that are dropped and the opinions of the main characters on the style and quality of performances both past and present. Indeed much of McNally's humor is inside jokes, and they make up most of the first act, as opera queen Mendy lusts wildly after a pirated copy of a Traviata recorded in Lisbon in the 1950s by Maria Callas. His friend Stephen, who is likewise crazy for opera and who has a copy of the disc, is at Mendy's for the evening to chat and distract himself from the fact that his eight-year lover Mike has young Paul spending the night. What's fascinating about the play is that the comic first act is merely a buildup to the operatically tragic second act, when in the morning Stephen goes home to find Mike's overnight friend, Paul, still there. Stephen cannot imagine a life without Mike and becomes unstrung when he slowly realizes that Mike cannot imagine his life continuing with Stephen. Comedy becomes bitter retaliation in true operatic style. McNally tells his tale with great regard for the medium he echoes, and his dialogue is rich and true. This staging is guided with a sure hand by Michael Van Duzer, who plays the emotional chords with solid tempi and affecting rhythms as the tale progresses. The performances match his perception to a T. Only David Goldyn misses, by a hair's width, realizing the full impact of Mendy's single-minded obsession. He is effective but would be doubly so if he cut his campiness and his operatic posing in half and played more into a subtext that would bring Mendy realistically to life. The rest of the cast couldn't be better. Gregory G. Giles' Stephen is beautifully, subtly disturbed during his first act conversation with Mendy but allows his sense of defeat to grow with slow, steady impact in the second act in an affecting and touching performance. Also letter-perfect and given meaningful subtext and depth are Tony Maietta's Mike, who provides all the solid qualities and variety that keep Stephen bound to him, and the uni-monikered Jason's intelligent and solidly nice Paul, the boy who is slowly pulling Mike away from the relationship that has crumbled into a dusty meaninglessnes