Staging a New Orleans Show

A bit of background is necessary: I love A Confederacy of Dunces.  The book itself is brilliant and the story behind the book and it’s author, John Kennedy Toole, should serve as a reminder to never lose the strength of your conviction in regards to your voice.  I love the book and was very excited to see that finally a group of actors had adapted it to the stage.

The play was wonderful.  It took a little bit to get used to as the actors provided brief narratives about the characters they were playing to provide some context, but once it was in full swing it was really terrific.

The first time I saw it was last Wednesday for a midmorning showing and I walked out pleased but more excited to see it for a second time.  My only problem then was with one particular character, Jones.  Most issues I had with Jones were due to casting.  Jones was always an entertaining character, he was a sun glasses wearing, chain smoking narcissist but I always had him pictured as a thin man, struggling to get food to eat and a job to work.  He always seemed soft spoken until, as if from nowhere, he would exclaim: WHOOA or OOOOH-WE!  The actor cast as Jones in the play was a bit heavier and less enthusiastic than I had gleaned from the text, which I have read several times and is my default gift for anyone’s birthday.  After the second showing, a Saturday night affair, I was left to believe it was just one off performance.  Jones brought the energy and flash that I felt was missing from the first time I attended.

Surprisingly I walked away thinking that Mr. Levy, owner and proprietor of Levy Pants, was the best character.  He was never a large character in the book but in the play no one impressed me more.  The actor fit the role perfectly, an unhappy business owner from the upper east coast, weighed down by depression every time he set foot inside his enterprise.  He was in a dysfunctional marriage and wore Levy Pants around his neck like it was an 200 pound albatross.  With all the colorful characters from New Orleans I think it’s odd that he would have stood out so much but it was terrific.  And I like a little surprise.

In the Saturday night showing, just as the narrative was gearing up for the finale a fire alarm went off.  The announcer over the PA repeated twice that it was a genuine fire alarm and that we all needed to make our way to the exits, which we did at a beleaguered pace.  In the alleyway the audience crossed paths with the actors who took up where they left off and finished the production in the  street to an uproarious applause.  Granted, there were probably only two minutes left of the play and the last scene contained only two actors but it was a great experience.  As Ignatious J. Reilly and Myrna Minkoff plotted their escape the rest of the cast became part of the audience and for two glorious minutes I felt like I was really a part of the production.

It was a wholly satisfying and quirky experience that only such a tale could make worthwhile.  But read the book.  Learn the background of the author.  The importance of the story is lost were you not to do so.