New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu



 

REVIEW: "It's Only A Play" at George Street Playhouse


By Charles Paolino

originally published: 12/07/2021


A fine line separates farce from chaos.

If you have seen an amateur production of Noises Off, you may have seen chaos.

If you see the George Street Playhouse production of It’s Only a Play, you will see farce, and farce well done.

It’s Only a Play—which George Street also mounted during its—COVID-driven virtual season—is the handiwork of Terrence McNally, who died last year as a result of the virus.

The scene is the bedroom suite of a wealthy Manhattanite, Julia Budder, who has put up the dough to produce a Broadway play.




Promote your shows at New Jersey Stage! Click here for info



Downstairs in the plush townhouse, an opening-night party is at full force, what with Liza Minnelli, Hillary Clinton, Rosie O’Donnell, and the cast of The Lion King on hand.

Upstairs, in the bedroom, Julia and several others—a coat-check flunky, the director, the playwright, the leading lady, a critic, and an actor who took a pass on this play—hang out while they await the reviews.

These characters alternately commiserate and spar with each other as each nurses his or her own vested interest in what the critics—especially The Times critic—are about to do for or to this play.

Those with a particular interest in New York theater might get a special kick out the diatribes about what ails Broadway—you know: commercialism, revivals, star vehicles, British imports. 

But the draw here is the way this cast, co-directed by Kevin Cahoon and Colin Hanlon, delivers McNally’s crackling dialogue and carries out the physical gags.

The timing, the double takes, the slow burns, the hurtled props: it all works.

This is a true ensemble piece with Doug Harris as the flunky, Mark Junek as the actor who took a pass, Kristine Nielsen as the leading lady, Greg Cuellar as the director, Lindsay Nicole Chambers as the producer, Triney Sandoval as the critic, and Patrick Richwood as the playwright.




Promote your shows at New Jersey Stage! Click here for info



There’s no upstaging here, but it’s hard not to focus on Kristine Nielsen’s bravura performance as leading lady Virginia Noyes. This grande dame is so enamored of drugs that she wears an ankle bracelet and checks in with her parole officer. She has just returned to Broadway after an exile in Hollywood, and she’s convinced that her triumph in this play will be sweet revenge against those SOBs in Los Angeles.

Everything about Nielsen’s portrayal is hilarious: her delivery, her reactions, her profanity, her physical presence all combine to provoke gales of laughter that often linger over the ensuing dialogue.

Credit Patrick Richwood, too, for a nuanced portrayal of the playwright who senses that, at last, he has achieved what every playwright lives for—a Broadway hit. Amid the uproar that repeatedly erupts in this play, McNally’s script allows the characters substantial monologues, and the soft-spoken Richwood makes the most of the opportunity to weave employ pathos and humor to evoke the moments in which a theatrical artist dangles between elation or heartbreak. 

Doug Harris is endearing as the coat-check boy—he’s really an aspiring actor, you know—who has just arrived in New York and can’t stop saying “wow,” and Greg Cuellar camps it up to a glorious pitch as the kleptomanic English director who writes OBE after his name but longs to be told, just once, that his work stinks.

But there are no weak figures in this cast as they tell this story on David L. Arsenault’s stunning set. 

Terrence McNally introduced this play in 1982 after an earlier version failed. It has been performed off-off, off, and on Broadway and in regional theaters far and wide. 

The evidence on the George Street stage is that “It’s a Play,” with the right cast and direction, is still a winner. 

It's Only A Play runs until December 19, 2021.  Click here for more information or to purchase tickets.

Photos by T. Charles Erickson



For more by Charles Paolino, visit his blog.




Promote your shows at New Jersey Stage! Click here for info





FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Vivid

Vivid Summer Solos: Where is Everybody?

Wednesday, July 09, 2025 @ 6:30pm
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey
68 Elm Street, Summit, NJ 07901
category: theatre

Click here for full event listing

 

A

A Broadway Tour of America

Thursday, July 10, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Grunin Center - Black Box Theater
1 College Drive, Toms River, NJ 08754
category: theatre

Click here for full event listing

 

The

The MAC players at the Middletown Arts Center present "Hairspray"

Friday, July 11, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Middletown Arts Center
36 Church Street, Middletown, NJ 07748
category: theatre

Click here for full event listing

 

A

A Broadway Tour of America

Friday, July 11, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Grunin Center - Black Box Theater
1 College Drive, Toms River, NJ 08754
category: theatre

Click here for full event listing

 

The

The Wizard of Oz

Saturday, July 12, 2025 @ 2:00pm
Algonquin Arts Theatre
60 Abe Voorhees, Manasquan, NJ 08736
category: theatre

Click here for full event listing

 

More events

Event Listings are available for $10 and included with our banner ad packages




 

EVENT PREVIEWS

A

A New Musical, "Rocky Bumps," to Have Staged Reading in Haddonfield

(HADDONFIELD, NJ) -- An original musical, Rocky Bumps, will hold a staged reading on Sunday, July 13, 2025 at the Haddonfield Theater Arts Center Studio. The musical is a coming-of-age tale steeped in romance, risk, and retro charm. The reading begins at at 2:00pm.



SoHo

SoHo Playhouse presents Finalists for 2025 Lighthouse Series

(NEW YORK, NY) -- SoHo Playhouse is thrilled to announce the six finalists for the 2025 Lighthouse Series, running July 6–20, 2025. The Final Round includes Brody Went Missing by Matt Stephens; How to Build a Gate by Electra Artemis; Golem Owned a Tropical Smoothie by Ethan Crystal and Garrett Poladian; The Ghost of Bob Dylan Shows One of Us Greatness by Annie Stein; Hungry Women by Melissa Maney; and Hot Pussy Time Machine by Alexander J. Daniels.



Classic

Classic American Tales presents "The Specialist" and "The Wizard of Oz" this week

(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- This week, Classic American Tales presents two different events in two different Cape May locations: The historic Dormer House B&B and Rea's Farm.



WHATCo

WHATCo presents Free performances of Shakespeare's "The Tempest"

(KEARNY, NJ) -- The West Hudson Arts & Theater Company (WHATCo) is bringing the Bard back to West Hudson this summer! William Shakespeare's The Tempest will be performed in Arlington Depot Park in Kearny on Saturday, July 12, 2025 at 7:00pm and in East Newark's new Riverfront Park on Sunday, July 20 at 6:00pm. Both performances are free of charge.



Montclair

Montclair Township Declares 'Montclair Theater Day' Ahead of Vanguard Theater's Inaugural Festival

(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- Known for its vibrant and lively arts scene, the town of Montclair continues to find new and meaningful ways to celebrate creativity within its community. One of the town's newest initiatives includes the inaugural Montclair Theater Festival, presented by Vanguard Theater and The Essex County Board Of Commissioners. This eagerly anticipated event is set to take place on Saturday, July 12, 2025, at Glenfield Park in Montclair's historic Fourth Ward.