I'm seeing Wendy Robie as Louise (the maid) in "Private Lives" at Chicago Shakespeare tomorrow night.

@Russell: When you put Cena instead of Cera I imagined WWE personality/sometime bad actor John Cena doing a nerdy teen comedy with both gay and straight content, and laughed.

I'd take issue with a rape being described as "gay sex," but that may just be my sensitivities. We can assume the book is a little darker than the movie, then?

Clarification Please
I'm guessing by the fact that this movie is only an R that the explicit gay sex has more or less gone away—if there's one thing the ratings board hates more than sex it's gay sex.

I'm Intrigued
At least to see what two guys without any musical theatre experience do with the form. Could really work, not work at all, or fall in the middle, we'll see.

@Unicorns: John Barrowman was also in a Sondheim show on Broadway—Putting it Together. Granted, it was a revue, and only ran 3 months. But still: Sondheim on Broadway.

I've never seen 300—I prefer my porn without the killing, thanks.

Rather prescient of his parents, no?

Phel—Cheyenne Jackson is a quite talented, absurdly hot, entirely gay (but butch enough to play straight with no trouble) Broadway performer.

In Re: the Mountain Dew v. Coffee debate above: I assume you all realize that all other caffeinated beverages are sparring for second place, behind tea? And that Mountain Dew looks like radioactive goat piss?

@Rodolfo—I personally found his work on "The Producers" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie" to be similarly bland, but those scores were far less interesting than this one that it didn't bother me as much.

Such a great score. Such a consistenly wrong-headed adaptation. I weep.

When I Clicked the Link
I thought to myself "Nathan reviewed this one."

The one time Chicago was *not* the snow trap of doom…I'm savoring it.

Keith—I could tell that "Cinema Italiano" sucked just from the previews. I'm not looking forward to the whole thing.

Hardly. I really want it to be good, as the source material is fantastic. But given that it's one of Keith's reviews, this will probably be the consensus opinion.

"Not That Memorable"
With all due respect to Keith, I have to take exception to this line—or at least unpack it a little more.

The acceptable situations for men's room conversation are 1) if two guys are already talking before entering, and simply continue the conversation and 2) speaking to someone at the sink, while both are washing hands.

You're surprised that it exists? That it's good? That AVC people like it? I'm a bit confused. Perhaps that's the point.

Seriously, track it down. Takes a play that has been dismissed as period camp, finds the pain and sincerity at the center, and goes for it. Plus, as I said, it's very strong musically.