A Catered Affair - An Affair to Remember

I took my 12 year old daughter to see Harvey Fierstein's latest musical A Catered Affair which opened on Broadway on April 17th. I had asked her which show she would like to see and she chose A Catered Affair because she loves Harvey Fierstein. I really wanted to see it and I was surprised that she chose it over Legally Blonde and Xanadu. Lucky for me, I loved it. It was so poignant and addressed the many family issues that surface when a family plans a wedding. First of all, financial. Should the family spend their life savings on an affair that will be over in four hours or invest it in a new business which will keep on making money for the family? And the guest list. Immediate family only? What comprises immediate family? What we get from this is that you can't make everyone happy.

It's the Bronx, 1953. The daughter, used to taking a backseat to her brother who has recently been killed in Korea, has planned a small town hall wedding with immediate family. The mother wants her daughter to have a big lavish wedding, something she did not have because she was a bride "without a waistline", and she feels it is something to remember and hold onto once you've become an oppressed wife as she has. The father wants to use their savings to buy a share in a taxi medallion to insure their future.

It's not an extravaganza like Hairspray or Wicked. The music is not that memorable, although there were three songs that I really liked because of their message, "Don't Ever Stop Saying I Love You", "I Stayed" and "Immediate Family". The sets are minimal but effective, just a gray building which comes alive with scenes cleverly projected on it in sepia tones, and movable kitchen, living room and bedroom sets. What I loved about it was that it dealt with a real family with real problems that almost anyone could relate to. And the acting was superb with Faith Prince as the mother, Aggie, Tom Wopat as the dad, Tom, and Harvey as the "confirmed bachelor" Uncle Winston living with them on their couch until he realizes he is not considered immediate family and leaves to "keep house" with his long time companion, Keith.

Unfortunately, my daughter was bored and restless through the whole 90 minute play, and in fact I think annoyed the young man she was sitting behind who kept looking back at her. I kept whispering to her to sit still but I knew early on that this was not a show for kids. The highlight for Jade took place before the show when we ran into Harvey Fierstein on the street. He was deep in conversation and totally ignored us. What a cheek! Haar-vee, it's me, Suko, from The Matinee. It's a liberty!