Arts & Entertainment
Gay is ‘The New Normal’
Same-sex couple explores parenthood in new Ryan Murphy sitcom
‘The New Normal’
NBC
Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m.
Andrew Rannells as Bryan (left) and Justin Bartha as David in the controversial new NBC comedy ‘The New Normal.’ (Photo courtesy NBC)
Now that “The New Normal” is off and running — an online pilot teased the series while its first two regular broadcasts were Monday and Tuesday this week before settling into its regular Tuesday night time slot — most TV fans know the premise.
This latest creation from gay TV mastermind Ryan Murphy (“Glee,” “Nip/Tuck,” “American Horror Story”), it tells of a happy young gay Los Angeles couple, Bryan (Andrew Rannells) and David (Justin Bartha), who convince new-in-town Goldie (Georgia King) to be a surrogate so they can start a family.
The show’s off to a decent-enough start. Monday night’s network debut found it winning its time slot drawing about 6.9 million viewers, though about 45 percent of those who’d tuned in for lead-in hit “The Voice,” cut out for “Normal.” Some critics are calling the performances a “triumph over content.”
Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker calls Rannells — best known for his Broadway turn in “The Book of Mormon” — “one of the hottest young talents around and he does as much as he can with a role that co-creators Murphy and Ali Adler seem to have conceived as a cross between Charles Nelson Reilly and Rip Taylor; all Bryan is missing is a bag of confetti to throw at his costars after deliving a punchline. It’s to Rannells’ credit that he made the premiere’s attempts at heart tugging, wuch as a home video made for the future baby professing ‘how desperately you are wanted,’ seem heartfelt.”
The San Francisco Chronicle praised its “humor, solid performances” and “snappily written script.” The Los Angeles Times said the pilot “felt flat or programmatic … but much was likable as well, especially the nonchalant tenderness between the male leads.”
During a conference call last week, Rannells, Bartha and King fielded questions on everything from where the show is headed, to working with Murphy to what they think about the controversy the show has generated (Salt Lake City, Utah-based NBC affiliate KSL has refused to air the show though it claimed it was more for the “sexually explicit content, demeaning dialogue and inciting stereotypes” than its “gay characters or LGBT families; Two Utah pro-gay groups in a partnership with GLAAD are screening the show for Utah residents).
“I actually do hope people are offended by it,” Bartha says. “I think hopefully it will get conversations started in family homes and that families who love it will love it for what it is, a compassionate and loving family with many positive aspects. And the ones who are offended by it or find that it strikes them as offensive, hopefully they will maybe realize that they’re bigots and they’re ignorant and possibly our show can usher in a little more acceptance. I don’t expect it to change anyone’s life, but I do think one of the wonderful things about television is its ability to start a conversation, to inspire people to have those watercooler chats maybe the next day. It starts that discourse.”
King, a British actress with extensive film and TV credits, says realizing the show was drawing controversy was “the biggest thrill.”
“It’s bringing up topics and questions and ideas that maybe people haven’t had to consider before,” she says. “It’s a privilege to be doing something that’s starting a great conversation.”
But if the show takes off, where could it possibly go once the pregnancy storyline is played out? Some have questioned whether there’s enough meat to the setting to warrant a long-running series.
Rannells says all early signs are great as far as he’s concerned.
“We’re shooting the fifth episode so far and we’ve read six scripts so far and I have to say, the shows just keep getting better and better. If you’re asking what the second season, the third season and so on will look like, we don’t think of it that way. The main reason we all signed up was because of Ryan and Ali and I think when you see the rest of these episodes, you’ll see that it’s not only a great set up, but in the following episodes, it really does explore the depth of each character and make them each indelible.”
“Ryan’s just been extraordinary,” King says. “He’s got such a wonderful reputation for not being too kind of plucky and fake. He’s very to the point and personally, I absolutely love that. He’s so candid and so clear in his ideas in what he wants and I’m very happy to be there when he’s directing.”
And though he hasn’t said much about his personal life, Bartha admits playing gay with Rannells has been easy.
“From the first time I looked into Andrew’s eyes, I knew I could fall in love,” Bartha says. “I have such a respect for him as an actor and as a person that it was immediately apparent to me that this could work. I just thought he was a funny, good looking, talented guy and he’s easy to be around, so that was the basis of it. … I really wanted to play it as a real couple who love each other and have struggles just like everyone else. Ryan keeps reminding us of that all the time. He’s always saying, ‘Let’s keep this as real as possible.’ It’s funny, but it’s also very, very real. It’s not a sitcom in the classic sense.”
And while it’s ultimately meant to be light hearted and comical, the cast says they hope viewers will take away something deeper.
“What we’re ultimately saying is that what we’re creating is perhaps no different from your family,” Rannells says. “All families basically start as unlikely folks coming together to create this family. Initially it might seem like this is awfully different, but the story we’re telling is really universal.”
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington perform “The Holiday Show” at Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St., N.W.). Visit gmcw.org for tickets and showtimes.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Santa will be very relieved.
You’ve taken most of the burden off him by making a list and checking it twice on his behalf. The gift-buying in your house is almost done – except for those few people who are just so darn hard to buy for. So what do you give to the person who has (almost) everything? You give them a good book, like maybe one of these.
Memoir and biography
The person who loves digging into a multi-level memoir will be happy unwrapping “Blessings and Disasters: A Story of Alabama” by Alexis Okeowo (Henry Holt). It’s a memoir about growing up Black in what was once practically ground zero for the Confederacy. It’s about inequality, it busts stereotypes, and yet it still oozes love of place. You can’t go wrong if you wrap it up with “Queen Mother: Black Nationalism, Reparations, and the Untold Story of Audley Moore” by Ashley D. Farmer (Pantheon). It’s a chunky book with a memoir with meaning and plenty of thought.
For the giftee on your list who loves to laugh, wrap up “In My Remaining Years” by Jean Grae (Flatiron Books). It’s part memoir, part comedy, a look back at the late-last-century, part how-did-you-get-to-middle-age-already? and all fun. Wrap it up with “Here We Go: Lessons for Living Fearlessly from Two Traveling Nanas” by Eleanor Hamby and Dr. Sandra Hazellip with Elisa Petrini (Viking). It’s about the adventures of two 80-something best friends who seize life by the horns – something your giftee should do, too.
If there’ll be someone at your holiday table who’s finally coming home this year, wrap up “How I Found Myself in the Midwest” by Steve Grove (Simon & Schuster). It’s the story of a Silicon Valley worker who gives up his job and moves with his family to Minnesota, which was once home to him. That was around the time the pandemic hit, George Floyd was murdered, and life in general had been thrown into chaos. How does someone reconcile what was with what is now? Pair it with “Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America” by Will Bardenwerper (Doubleday). It’s set in New York and but isn’t that small-town feel universal, no matter where it comes from?
Won’t the adventurer on your list be happy when they unwrap “I Live Underwater” by Max Gene Nohl (University of Wisconsin Press)? They will, when they realize that this book is by a former deep-sea diver, treasure hunter, and all-around daredevil who changed the way we look for things under water. Nohl died more than 60 years ago, but his never-before-published memoir is fresh and relevant and will be a fun read for the right person.
If celeb bios are your giftee’s thing, then look for “The Luckiest” by Kelly Cervantes (BenBella Books). It’s the Midwest-to-New-York-City story of an actress and her life, her marriage, and what she did when tragedy hit. Filled with grace, it’s a winner.
Your music lover won’t want to open any other gifts if you give “Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur” by Jeff Pearlman (Mariner Books). It’s the story of the life, death, and everything in-between about this iconic performer, including the mythology that he left behind. Has it been three decades since Tupac died? It has, but your music lover never forgets. Wrap it up with “Point Blank (Quick Studies)” by Bob Dylan, text by Eddie Gorodetsky, Lucy Sante, and Jackie Hamilton (Simon & Schuster), a book of Dylan’s drawings and artwork. This is a very nice coffee-table size book that will be absolutely perfect for fans of the great singer and for folks who love art.
For the giftee who’s concerned with their fellow man, “The Lost and the Found: A True Story of Homelessness, Found Family and Second Chances” by Kevin Fagan (One Signal / Atria) may be the book to give. It’s a story of two “unhoused” people in San Francisco, one of the country’s wealthiest cities, and their struggles. There’s hope in this book, but also trouble and your giftee will love it.
For the person on your list who suffered loss this year, give “Pine Melody” by Stacey Meadows (Independently Published), a memoir of loss, grief, and healing while remembering the person gone.
LGBTQ fiction
For the mystery lover who wants something different, try “Crime Ink: Iconic,” edited by John Copenhaver and Salem West (Bywater Books), a collection of short stories inspired by “queer legends” and allies you know. Psychological thrillers, creepy crime, cozies, they’re here.
Novel lovers will want to curl up this winter with “Middle Spoon” by Alejandro Varela (Viking), a book about a man who appears to have it all, until his heart is broken and the fix for it is one he doesn’t quite understand and neither does anyone he loves.
LGBTQ studies – nonfiction
For the young man who’s struggling with issues of gender, “Before They Were Men” by Jacob Tobia (Harmony Books) might be a good gift this year. These essays on manhood in today’s world works to widen our conversations on the role politics and feminism play in understanding masculinity and how it’s time we open our minds.
If there’s someone on your gift list who had a tough growing-up (didn’t we all?), then wrap up “I’m Prancing as Fast as I Can” by Jon Kinnally (Permuted Press / Simon & Schuster). Kinnally was once an awkward kid but he grew up to be a writer for TV shows you’ll recognize. You can’t go wrong gifting a story like that. Better idea: wrap it up with “So Gay for You: Friendship, Found Family, & The Show That Started It All” by Leisha Hailey & Kate Moennig (St. Martin’s Press), a book about a little TV show that launched a BFF-ship.
Who doesn’t have a giftee who loves music? You sure do, so wrap up “The Secret Public: How Music Moved Queer Culture from the Margins to the Mainstream” by Jon Savage (Liveright). Nobody has to tell your giftee that queer folk left their mark on music, but they’ll love reading the stories in this book and knowing what they didn’t know.
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Theater
Studio’s ‘Mother Play’ draws from lesbian playwright’s past
A poignant memory piece laced with sadness and wry laughs
‘The Mother Play’
Through Jan. 4
Studio Theatre
1501 14th St., N.W.
$42 – $112
Studiotheatre.org
“The Mother Play” isn’t the first work by Pulitzer Prize-winning lesbian playwright Paula Vogel that draws from her past. It’s just the most recent.
Currently enjoying an extended run at Studio Theatre, “The Mother Play,” (also known as “The Mother Play: A Play in Five Evictions,” or more simply, “Mother Play”) is a 90-minute powerful and poignant memory piece laced with sadness and wry laughs.
The mother in question is Phyllis Herman (played exquisitely by Kate Eastwood Norris), a divorced government secretary bringing up two children under difficult circumstances. When we meet them it’s 1964 and the family is living in a depressing subterranean apartment adjacent to the building’s trash room.
Phyllis isn’t exactly cut out for single motherhood; an alcoholic chain-smoker with two gay offspring, Carl and Martha, both in their early teens, she seems beyond her depth.
In spite (or because of) the challenges, things are never dull in the Herman home. Phyllis is warring with landlords, drinking, or involved in some other domestic intrigue. At the same time, Carl is glued to books by authors like Jane Austen, and queer novelist Lytton Strachey, while Martha is charged with topping off mother’s drinks, not a mean feat.
Despite having an emotionally and physically withholding parent, adolescent Martha is finding her way. Fortunately, she has nurturing older brother Carl (the excellent Stanley Bahorek) who introduces her to queer classics like “The Well of Loneliness” by Radclyffe Hall, and encourages Martha to pursue lofty learning goals.
Zoe Mann’s Martha is just how you might imagine the young Vogel – bright, searching, and a tad awkward.
As the play moves through the decades, Martha becomes an increasingly confident young lesbian before sliding comfortably into early middle age. Over time, her attitude toward her mother becomes more sympathetic. It’s a convincing and pleasing performance.
Phyllis is big on appearances, mainly her own. She has good taste and a sharp eye for thrift store and Goodwill finds including Chanel or a Von Furstenberg wrap dress (which looks smashing on Eastwood Norris, by the way), crowned with the blonde wig of the moment.
Time and place figure heavily into Vogel’s play. The setting is specific: “A series of apartments in Prince George’s and Montgomery County from 1964 to the 21st century, from subbasement custodial units that would now be Section 8 housing to 3-bedroom units.”
Krit Robinson’s cunning set allows for quick costume and prop changes as decades seamlessly move from one to the next. And if by magic, projection designer Shawn Boyle periodically covers the walls with scurrying roaches, a persistent problem for these renters.
Margot Bordelon directs with sensitivity and nuance. Her take on Vogel’s tragicomedy hits all the marks.
Near the play’s end, there’s a scene sometimes referred to as “The Phyllis Ballet.” Here, mother sits onstage silently in front of her dressing table mirror. She is removed of artifice and oozes a mixture of vulnerability but not without some strength. It’s longish for a wordless scene, but Bordelon has paced it perfectly.
When Martha arranges a night of family fun with mom and now out and proud brother at Lost and Found (the legendary D.C. gay disco), the plan backfires spectacularly. Not long after, Phyllis’ desire for outside approval resurfaces tenfold, evidenced by extreme discomfort when Carl, her favorite child, becomes visibly ill with HIV/AIDS symptoms.
Other semi-autobiographical plays from the DMV native’s oeuvre include “The Baltimore Waltz,” a darkly funny, yet moving piece written in memory of her brother (Carl Vogel), who died of AIDS in 1988. The playwright additionally wrote “How I Learned to Drive,” an acclaimed play heavily inspired by her own experiences with sexual abuse as a teenager.
“The Mother Play” made its debut on Broadway in 2024, featuring Jessica Lange in the eponymous role, earning her a Tony Award nomination.
Like other real-life matriarch inspired characters (Mary Tyrone, Amanda Wingfield, Violet Weston to name a few) Phyllis Herman seems poised to join that pantheon of complicated, women.
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