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review New York City, 1979. Bobby McIntyre, a deputy sheriff from Yazoo County, Mississippi, goes to the Big Apple for a three-day law enforcement seminar. He ain’t never been to New York before. Now, New York is cold and lonely. And damned if Bobby don’t get to feelin’ a little randy. He goes and sees himself a movie at one of them "grind houses" off of 42nd Street. And damned if Bobby don’t get a hand job from this girl for $10. Girl named Nikki. It’s all kinda excitin’, ‘cause she’s a black girl, too. Damn, she’s pretty. And damned if she don’t have a dick. And damned if Bobby don’t care. Welcome to Mark Leonard’s one-of-a-kind comedy-drama, "Nikki and Bobby". A tale of romance between a straight white sheriff and a black transvestite from Times Square, "Nikki and Bobby" rises above cheap jokes to genuinely explore racism, homophobia and sexual possibility. As a love story, it’s intriguing. As a play, it’s not entirely successful. Would you believe it’s based on a true story? That’s what Leonard claims in his program notes. He says he met the real "Nikki" in a New York City bar some years ago. When he found out Leonard was a playwright, "Nikki" urged him to write a play about the secret affair he was having with a Southern deputy. Years later, "Nikki and Bobby" premiered in Austin, and now here it is in Los Angeles. Gay sexworkers and good ol' boys don't hook up everyday. As a result, "Nikki and Bobby" is difficult to dramatically buy, even if its plot does have real-life roots. It’s hard to suspend disbelief about this love story, since it runs counter to nearly all of our presumptions … and maybe even counter to logic. We can accept Nikki falling for Bobby: Nikki’s a hooker, he’s attracted to men, and he’s adventurous. It’s harder for us to accept why the avowedly straight Bobby would stay with Nikki after finding out that a.) Nikki is a man and b.) Nikki betrayed his trust. Unless, of course, Bobby isn’t actually straight. In fact, shortly after the sexual betrayal, Bobby comes back to Nikki’s hotel room and apologizes to him. Next thing we know, he’s shacking up with Nikki for the weekend. He doesn’t really seem to recognize that Nikki is gay; he pays Nikki for sex acts, but treats him rather like a femme drinking buddy. Clearly, Bobby is in massive self-denial. Why does he move in with a transvestite? Why does he leave Mississippi behind? What are his true feelings? Frustratingly, we never hear the answers from Bobby. Instead, we have to pick up clues as Nikki and Bobby’s friends deliver a series of reflective monologues -– a framing device around the central story. Remarkably, Leonard gives away the play’s ending during the first of these monologues. And even more remarkably, the play ends with a monologue. The final scene of "Nikki and Bobby" offers no dramatic confrontation, no Nikki, and no Bobby. This is the way Leonard has decided to tell the tale. There surely are better ways, but the play still "works" -– largely because a number of good performances anchor the show. Michael Matts plays Nikki with care: he impersonates a woman reasonably well, but not too well, not with the precision of top female impersonators. (Remember, this girl’s on a budget.) J.D. Evermore, who looks like Ron Howard crossed with Tom Watson, plays Bobby with a suitably friendly naivete. And in a finely crafted monologue, Joe Inscoe plays a family friend of Bobby’s so well and so authoritatively he nearly ends the play by himself. "Nikki and Bobby" is a likable play, with humor and flashes of good writing. It does have flaws; repairing those flaws would only help sustain this affair. "Nikki
and Bobby", Th-Sun through Oct. 8 Copyright © 2000 The Write Word, Inc. All rights reserved. |