‘Mae West in Sunset Boulevard’ Lands Both Funny and Tender

By Britin Haller

Now playing at The Foundry in Wilton Manors, the world premiere of Mae West in Sunset Boulevard from Ronnie Larsen Presents and the Plays of Wilton, is a bona fide hit. And if the sold-out shows, and continuous laughter emanating from the audience are any indication, one would be advised to buy your tickets fast before the word really gets out.

The two-person play (with songs!)  was written, produced, and directed by Ronnie Larsen specifically for stars Jennifer McClain and Seth Trucks. It tells what happens when, as history tells it, sexpot and film star, Mae West turned down the lead role of the deluded Norma Desmond in 1950’s noir classic Sunset Boulevard because she didn’t want to lose her carefully cultivated image, and was insulted to be offered the part of a Hollywood has-been.

Basically, the multi-talented Larsen has found a tiny footnote in movie lore and built an entire production around the road not taken. Very clever indeed.

As a result, the Desmond part, known for its brutal look at the price of vanity, was offered to Gloria Swanson who won the Golden Globe, was nominated for the Oscar, and is still revered to this day as the actress who uttered one of the most famous and widely-misquoted film lines of all time, “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”

Seeing local cabaret entertainer and gay icon Jennifer McClain perform in something, anything, has been on this critic’s bucket list for as long as we can remember, so when the opportunity came up to both scratch that itch, and review another of Ronnie Larsen’s unusual and intriguing concepts, we jumped at it. And clearly some things are worth waiting for, because we were thoroughly engrossed from beginning to end, even if sometimes it feels like the play is just an excuse to throw out Mae West’s most well-known one-liners.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Especially when they’re classics like “My left leg is Thanksgiving, and my right leg is Christmas, so why don’t you come visit me between the holidays?”

But it’s also so much more. In fact, if we had to choose one word, other than hysterical it would be tender.

That we were not expecting. In fact, we are still haunted by its tenderness days later.

That’s due primarily to the ridiculous amount of chemistry between McClain and Trucks, the latter who plays John Gordon, the much younger studio lackey tasked with the unenviable job of convincing Mae West that she should play Norma Desmond. While Mae West turned down the role that was offered by director (and co-writer) Billy Wilder, it’s captivating to witness one version of how that rejection might have played out.

But first, the incredibly shy John Gordon (Trucks) has to ring the doorbell.

We can only wonder how long he stood outside Mae West’s door before getting the nerve to announce his arrival. But perhaps Gordon should have done his homework because he doesn’t even recognize Mae at first, given she answers her own door and claims to be her sister.

But with script in hand, West eventually lets Gordon in, and thus begins not a one-and-done visit for John Gordon to Mae West’s penthouse apartment in the famed Ravenswood building in Los Angeles. Rather, over the course of two years, a cat-and-mouse older and taller woman/younger and shorter man relationship grows into something that tests them and pushes them, makes them face hard truths about themselves as individuals, and with each other, and ultimately results in both of them becoming better for having had it.

Like we said, tender.

Anyone going into this show as a skeptic, thinking they won’t be moved by the story that unfolds before them, is either kidding themselves, or hard-hearted, because to paraphrase from the Grinch, our heart grew three sizes that day.

On screen, Mae West was a deliberate caricature of her own making, a larger-than-life sexual queen of the suggestive quips, a slinky walk and form-fitting gowns that accentuated her positives. In real life, she was known as so much more, a down-to-earth extremely lovely person with real insecurities who loved, and was loved.

This is the Mae West that Jennifer McClain shows us in a funny and heartbreaking performance that imagines what really goes on in a fading, and rapidly aging movie star’s mind when the applause has gone away.

In a role McClain was born to play, she shows us West’s sadness, yes, but also the buoyancy of a woman who is determined to keep hope alive despite the odds. For ninety minutes, McClain is breathtakingly channeling Mae West on that stage.

Casting Carbonell-winner Seth Trucks as the fictional John Gordon was a mark of brilliance. The non-drinking suited studio guy changes pretty quickly as West forces him to swill scotch and make her sandwiches to earn the right to speak with her. Trucks couldn’t be more, for lack of a better word, adorable.

Gordon doesn’t understand exactly why he’s so fascinated and turned on by Mae’s come-ons and put-downs. But he realizes he wants more of whatever it is she’s dishing out, and we can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he fights his own impulses, before doing what the rest of us can see coming a mile away, giving in to temptation. “You like younger men?” he asks her with a head cock in one of the show’s best moments, as he finally realizes what’s really happening here.

As Mae West tells him, “I generally avoid temptation, unless I can’t resist it.” Trucks also performs both a clever W.C. Fields and God, yes God, impersonation.

Not to give anything away, but in the show we attended, a pair of wings fell off Mae’s shoulders near the end. If this was not intentional, please make it so. We love the idea of even Heaven not being able to contain Mae’s devilish spirit.

Ronnie Larsen’s direction is spot-on using props to great effect, like the swiveling velvet ottoman we want to take home. Larsen is also a master at blocking scenes and sight gags.

Mae West lived in an apartment that has been described as “early French candy box” and “late wedding cake.” It’s a fabulous old-Hollywood style place, befitting someone of her stature, with the set design by Plays of Wilton’s Managing Director Jeff Walters (in his debut outing), a work of genius. In true camp style, most of the action takes place in front of a giant portrait of McClain as West holding her pet monkey.

The Sunset Boulevard projection piece by George Schellenger, accompanied by Mae West’s reactions to it, gave us chills. Preston Bircher brings his Carbonell-winning talents in lighting design, while sound and lighting tech Panos Mitos carries them out.

Costume design by Timothy Bowman proves again why he’s one of the best in South Florida, while McClain’s platinum blonde vintage wig design by Jane Victoria Lynch adds the icing on the Mae West cake.

So, if you’re like us and have always wanted to hear Jennifer McClain’s angelic pipes, here’s your chance. But be prepared to also be titillated, amused, and totally moved by the May-December “love story” between Mae West and her young conquest, John Gordon. Because this is no cougar robbing the cradle, this is a sweet, and, yes, tender romance that will make you think twice about preconceived notions.

In real life, in her sixties, Mae West became involved with a man thirty years younger who stayed with her until she passed away at the age of eighty-seven.

We hope Mae West in Sunset Boulevard is not overlooked come awards time.

So, why don’t you come down and see her sometime?

Mae West in Sunset Boulevard plays through Sunday, June 28 at The Foundry, 2306 Dixie Highway, Wilton Manors. Some performances are already sold out. Showtimes vary. Running time approx. 90 minutes with no intermission. Tickets start at $37.50. Call 954-826-8790, or visit playsofwilton.com.

Britin Haller is a journalist, editor, and author who serves on the board of directors for the Mystery Writers of America Florida Chapter. As a celebrity wrangler, Brit regularly rubbed elbows with movie, sports, and rock stars, and as a media escort, she toured with NY Times bestselling authors. After appearing in local musicals and all-state choir, Britin studied theater at Indiana University (a Big 10 college) and the University of Evansville (Rami Malek’s alma mater).