Harbor

I’m afraid this isn’t going to be up to my usual standards… it’s late, and it’s hot and I have to get up early tomorrow. So I’m just going to hit the highlights now, since I know many of you are waiting

For those of you who don’t know, the main storyline involves Randy’s character Kevin, his architect husband Ted and his sister Donna, along with his niece Lottie. Kevin and Donna come from what he describes at one point as white Christmas trash. Donna and Kevin haven’t seen each other in years when Donna and Lottie show up at Ted and Kevin’s Sag Harbor home unannounced.

Kevin is obviously very impressionable, very insecure and has tried to put his family life behind him. He has been working on his great American novel for the past ten years without success. He is even having trouble writing a travel brochure for a local Sag Harbor group. Ted in trying to help, is in my humble opinion actually an enabler, keeping Kevin in his state of insecurity.

Donna comes with news of her pregnancy and with the idea the Ted and Kevin will be the perfect parents to raise the baby. Ted is vehemently against the idea, although all Kevin will say is that he wants what Ted wants, he wants the same things. Donna calls him on it, with lines like, “Grow a pair already!” And asks him pointedly, what do YOU want. He seems to lose his bravado in front of his sister who readily gets him to revert to their childhood days when they played house and Kevin was the mother with the bright pink rubber gloves and spoke with a high society Southern accent. Kevin seems to enjoy recalling these ideas, until he sees Ted disapproving, then he loses his confidence again.

The stage remains the same throughout the play, with props moved during scene changes to represent different parts of the house. A bare-chested Randy dressed only in boxer shorts, discusses his sister with Ted that night as they prepare for bed at the bathroom sink. They agree that Donna and Lottie can stay until tomorrow, and then Kevin will tell them to leave.

The next scene opens with Kevin stumbling and falling to the floor in a drunken stupor, with a now obviously pregnant Donna following behind. It’s been 3 months, and Kevin was once again supposed to ask Donna to leave, but instead the drinks and a little weed have brought down Kevin’s walls and as he lays on Donna’s lap and she gets him to feel the baby kick, he looks up in wide-eyed wonderment, and declares that yes, he does want to be a Mommy.

Ted, hearing the commotion comes downstairs and Kevin happily bounces over to where Ted has picked up the leftovers that had been dropped on the floor admonishing Kevin for even going to that restaurant, because, people might see you there. Kevin helps out by declaring they had fun and gave each other Native American names. Donna was “Moose with Papoose,” and Kevin was “Squats on Cocks!” The scene ends with Ted helping Kevin to the bathroom, because he suddenly feels sick.

The next day, both Kevin and Donna are looking worse for wear, with Kevin sporting a major hangover. Kevin tries to take back his longing for a baby, and once again Donna berates him, telling him not to blindly follow what Ted wants saying she’ll talk to him again when his “testicles drop!” She threatens to leave, if that’s really what Kevin wants, but he can’t let her. He wants to keep the baby. Meanwhile, Ted and Lottie are bonding over some shopping and McDonald’s at the mall. He decides that she should have a birthday party, since she didn’t celebrate her last one.

The next scene shows the house decorated for a party, with streamers, balloons, flowers, presents and gifts. Donna tries to talk to Ted about the baby, but he’ll have none of it. Kevin appears carrying a birthday cake decorated like a fancy ladies hat… He tries to stop Donna from bringing up the idea of them keeping the baby, because he wants to talk to Ted in private about it. But she continues to badger him, trying to get him to stand up to Ted, calling him the woman in the relationship. He turns to her angrily declaring he’s “NOT the woman,” while putting on a birthday party tiara complete with magenta feathers that he wears the rest of the scene.

Ted, still declaring he does not want children leaves, and Kevin follows him in Donna’s van. They meet on a bench in the parking lot of the local Carvels’ where they discuss the possibility of the baby. Ted worries about finances and how it will change their lives forever. Kevin laments that he sometimes gets lonely. The discussion escalates until Ted declares he can’t have child because he already has one! Kevin looks dumbfounded, until Ted admits that it’s Kevin he considers a child – emotional and needy and Ted likes taking care of him.

Kevin is very insulted, the argument continues when he demands Ted explain…. Ted brings up the book, the one that Kevin has never completed, and states that a writer “usually writes.” It was a very emotional scene, the end of which Kevin declares that this must be the end of them. He decides he will leave with his sister in the morning, and help her raise the baby, even as Ted reminds him he hasn’t earned a dime in 10 years. And the only thing he had “published,” was a cartoon contest in the New Yorker. Thus is where Ted as an enabler was most apparent. He liked having Kevin reliant on him, and without really any of his own opinions.

The next day bags are being packed, and Ted is trying to convince Kevin to stay, Donna is trying to convince Ted to take the baby, Lottie is trying to convince Ted and Kevin to let her stay. Donna is trying to convince her to go. Eventually, Ted agrees to allow Lottie to stay, thinking that this will be the family that Kevin desperately wants. But Kevin won’t be dissuaded… he declares that he needs to be something other than the emotional equivalent of a 14 year old. Ted pays Donna to allow Lottie to stay, the amount it would have cost them to hire a surrogate if they had ever decided to have their own child and the amount she would have earned working entertainment on a Cruise ship, which was her initial plan.

Ted and Lottie remain at the house, while Kevin and Donna leave in the van…

This was a much different role than I’ve seen Randy play before. For such a confident actor, to play the child-like Kevin with such insecurities and self-doubt was enlightening. There was humor, there was tension, and there were some real tear-jerker moments. And it wasn’t the happy ever after ending that I think a lot of people were expecting.

Randy looked great, dressed in shorts, sneakers and various designer shirts, but always dressed in more “youngish” fashion than Ted. His hair was short and styled, and he was clean-shaven. The boxer short scene was a treat!

We saw him briefly after the show, and he was very relaxed and happy to see us, although one of the first things he said was, “You’re coming again, right?” I don’t think he was completely thrilled with the performance, being such a perfectionist, he felt it still needed to be polished. He posed for some pictures with other fans and then went upstairs to the small bar wear Paul Stewart and Erin Cummings joined him. He happily signed several Playbills for a friend of ours.

I know there are a TON of details I missed! The show had a lot of depth and several subplots and complex interactions among all the characters. It really was wonderful and I DO look forward to seeing it again!