Day 1 - Holiday

I was all excited to start work Monday, but it was a holiday and New York Theatre Workshop was closed, so no go. It was nice though to have the day to get settled. Unfortunately the closest place for stuff to where I live is Kmart and you will be comforted to know that they are just as mess and unorganized here as in the south, but it is three stories! Making a couple of trips, one to get cleaning stuff and the other food (there is not the convenience of putting stuff in you car; you buy it you carry it!).

The day was pretty lazy, but to kick off my summer here I had a show to see. First up was White's Lies. It initially interested me because Christie Carlson Romano was in it (who I saw in Avenue Q), but I also learned that Betty Buckley and Tuc Watkins (from Desperate Houses) were also in it so I got a ticket. I knew it was a play, a comedy to be more specific, but the Web site is very vague about the show. My seat was in the front row, which was exciting. The set was simple, but it worked well for the show. The two settings were Joe White's law office and a bar (which would change themes throughout the show). His desk could be raised and would become the bar while one wall rotated to finish out the bar.

The show starts with Joe and one of his women (and lets just say he has a lot of them). But he doesn't want commitment, just have a little fun. His law partner, Alan, is to come in each morning to help get ride of the girl (they are always in his office). Joe says you never do breakfast because that shows commitment. Things were business as usually until one morning Barbara (Andrea Grano), an ex-girlfriend from college (who White doesn't remember), came in to get Joe to be her divorce lawyer. Her daughter Michelle (Romano) is 25 and takes a liking to Joe. Shortly after there first meeting, Joe's mom (Betty Buckley) tells him she has cancer and her one regret was that she didn't have a grandchild. In an effort to give his mom her dying wish, White concocts a plan where he will use Michelle as his long lost daughter. This is all fine and good until Michelle and Joe fall in love. Knowing the kind of guy he is, Barbara forbids the romance, but there is not stopping them now.

It all falls apart when Joe's mother admits she really isn't dying, but she wanted them to be closer and quit fighting. Michelle and Joe weren't planning of having to admit to their relationship because they figured she would be dead. Then Barbara and Alan get married in an attempt to get a restraining order against Joe to see Michelle (long story), and their shared love for Alf. In order to prove he is the father (which Joe thinks he is not) he demands a paternity test. In the final scene, the test results are in but before we find out, Michelle admits to Joe that she is pregnant, but then the results say he is the father. Things go awry for a moment, but eventually Mrs. White puts an end to it and tells them she had paid the "doctor" (an old friend's child who was in med school) to give the results. So it ended up that Joe was NOT Michelle's dad (thank goodness!) and they could now be together without hiding it. Whew, that was a little long winded and really doesn't do the show justice. I have never been big on plays because they are usually hard to get into, but this show was hilarious and the cast was amazing. Two other notable members who played multiple parts were Jimmy Ray Bennett and Rena Strober.

Cast of White's Lies (from http://www.playbill.com/multimedia/gallery//1270/?pnum=1)