This past Wednesday, October 18, 2017, I had the privilege of witnessing Second Stage Theater’s production of Torch Song. Harvey Fierstein originally wrote the production Torch Song Trilogy in 1979 as three plays, but Torch Song is a modified version performed as a two act play with about an hour of content cut out. This story may be almost 40 years old, but that fact does not diminish its relevance. If anything, the topics and themes explored in Fierstein’s masterpiece are important to revisit today.
Torch Song centers around Arnold Beckoff, a homosexual, Jewish drag queen living in New York City in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Torch Song brings the audience on the journey of Arnold’s adult life right alongside him. At some points, the audience even becomes his confidant. In an environment as intimate as Second Stage Theater’s, it is impossible not to become entranced by Arnold’s wit and charm. Michael Urie portrays Arnold with an exceptional amount of heart and honesty. We see Arnold find love and lose love. We see him struggling with his wants and desires. We see him defending his very being to his loving yet unrelentingly misunderstanding mother.
I haven’t seen many off-Broadway performances (or many stage performances in general), so this statement doesn’t hold as much meaning as I would like it to, but Torch Song was the best show I have ever seen. Not only was it hilarious and intelligent, but it was heartbreaking and moving. It was real.
Once returning to the busy NYC streets, I had to reground myself. I relate the emotional impact to being punched in the chest. For me, there is no more eloquent way to describe it. As I sat on the dark bus heading back to Kutztown, I was silent. I was stunned.
I had no previous exposure to this piece, so those who have knowledge of the original productions may not understand my dramatic reaction because to them, this version may have been less honest, less moving, or even less significant (which I understand considering the amount of excluded content and the fact that Arnold was originally played by Fierstein himself). But for me, seeing this story for the first time gave me a look at some of the tribulations of being gay in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I have a new understanding and appreciation for the political and social advances that have been made since the time this production was written. So, as soon as the copy of Torch Song Trilogy I ordered arrives in the mail, I will have an even greater understanding and appreciation for the original masterpiece.
I am so grateful to Second Stage Theater and faculty members of Kutztown University for making this trip possible. Thank you, Second Stage Theater, for making such an important story accessible and affordable to Kutztown University students. Thank you to the stage and production crew, the actors, director Moisés Kaufman and writer Harvey Fierstein for putting on an unforgettable show (and anyone else in the Second Stage Theater staff that I may be forgetting). Thank you to Dr. Curt Herr, Dr. Andrew Vogel and Dean Beougher for organizing this trip (and of course to the bus driver, Tim, for his kindness and genuinely impressive skill navigating an enormous bus through the bustling city streets). Your dedication to providing enriching experiences for your students does not go unnoticed or unappreciated.