Several audience members left Flying Over Sunset at intermission. They were the wise ones.
The first act crackles; the second drags. Both, of course, are directed by the great James Lapine, so I must presume that the playwright (also James Lapine) thought that bringing down the energy would give the work gravitas. Instead, it just drags.
The premise revolves around the fact that LSD was legal in the 50's, and several well known people were rumored to have taken it. Here, we have the famous Cary Grant (Tony Yazbeck), the somewhat infamous Clare Booth Luce (Carmen Cusack), the respected but controversial Aldous Huxley (Harry Hadden-Paton), and the mostly unknown Gerald Heard (Robert Sella).
Act one gives us a raucous scene in "the biggest drugstore in the world," Rexall. "It even sells books." We're also treated to a rousing tap-dance routine by Yazbeck. He's not Cary Grant, but who could be? I do miss the black hair, the abundant charm, and the great clothing.
The second act is largely built around Clare Booth Luce lamenting the loss of her daughter and trying to reconcile her feelings toward the mother who shaped her. We're treated to a powerful outpouring of LSD-induced song, made touching through Cusack's powerful voice. This nearly makes up for the God-awful scene between Grant and his object of fantasy, Sophia Loren (Emily Pynenburg).
It's useless to try to outguess all the rumors here. Cary and another male star? A wife who was courted at 15? And who knows what these celebrities really experienced under the influence of LSD? My advice is to come for the prestige and intrigue, but stay for the tap dancing.
