Mr. Charles, Currently of Palm Beach

[joeboling]

Sunday 23 August 2009: Mr. Charles, Currently of Palm Beach, Assorted Fruits and Vegetables at TOTS (stage 1) (IFF)

This is a fun piece with not a lot of meat (except in the gratuitous scene at the end). It is credited to Paul Rudnik, but I have seen two reviews saying it was written by Ron Spencer - is Rudnik a Spencer pen-name? Spencer is the principal performer, as Mr. Charles, and also directed himself and James Capps (who plays Shane, Mr. Charles' boy-toy).

Mr. Charles is a flaming gay who is too "out" for the New York scene: he is exiled to Palm Beach, where we find him mentally reliving his salad days and admiring Shane in his succession of costumes. It's a string of mostly effective one-liners that kept the audience fully engaged Sunday night. I like Spencer, and I like the flair that he brings to the show. But, in terms of what turns me on about theater, I give it a B.

Three more performances: Friday at 6:00, Saturday at 1:30, and Sunday at 10:30 (closing out the festival at this venue - I expect it will fill the house).

[Johnniezepp]

Rudnik is the playwright of Mr. Charles. Ron wrote Americas Next Top Bottom. With both of them playing in fringe, I think a few people got that mixed up.

[RobsGirl]

This was the only fringe show that we got to see. It was the final performance and it was delightful! This show was all Ron - it didn't seem scripted at all. We enjoyed every minute!