MORIARTY MARVELOUSLY MIMICS MENGERS
Virtually every Hollywood star has an agent but one of the only agents who was known by name is Sue Mengers, the Dragon Lady of movie casting in the 60s, 70s and early 80s. She was legendary for the lengths to which she would go to get her actors in major roles – and then to make sure they were paid amounts never previously even imagined.
In 2013 screen and movie scribe John Logan crafted a one-person play, I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers, which had a very successful season on Broadway with Bette Midler in the title role. Now Palm Spring’s queer company The Bent has produced the show for its desert premiere at the Palm Springs Cultural Center. The first hurdle is finding an actress who can memorize a 90-minute monologue and keep it alive and interesting. They wisely reached out to Hollywood for veteran Cathy Moriarty, an actor who has stayed busy since her Oscar-nominated role as the 17-year-old Vicki LaMotta in Raging Bull (see Stage and Cinema’s interview). In voice, image and attitude she uncannily channels the legendary agent – and small wonder: Mengers was actually Moriarty’s agent at one point, which gives her performance an extra ring of truth.
At the top of the show, we are in a sitting room in Menger’s plush Beverly Hills home. Mengers enters, promptly sits at a sofa center stage, and informs us that she doesn’t plan to move – and by golly, she never does. When she needs her drink refilled or her box of joints fetched from the bar, she has a unique solution which brings a healthy chuckle.
We quickly accept that this amazing actress has metamorphosed into Sue Mengers and the stories she tells have familiar names: Jane Fonda, Faye Dunaway, Barbara Streisand, William Friedman, Gene Hackman, Mike Nichols, et al. In fact, of the top-100 actors of her period, those who were not her clients would be a shorter list, and don’t we all love gossip about Hollywood personalities.
Moriarty is amazing as Sue Mengers. As guided by Artistic Director Steve Rosenbaum, her character never wavers and she manages to make each story she shares more interesting than the one before it. Clad in one of Menger’s characteristic kaftans supplied by costumer Cherilyn Lanning and with her hair and glasses exactly as worn by Mengers, it’s easy to accept the person in front of us as the “real deal.”
Jason Reale’s set is a single wall with very expensive-looking painting and molding, a couple of lamps, a luxe sofa and a Christmas Tree. It truly sets the mood of wealth and looks like a glossy magazine ad for a high end furniture store.
It’s great news that The Bent is now using radio mics for all actors, but it was still quite difficult to clearly hear the actress much of the time. The sound designer was probably trying for a very delicate lift of volume, but Palm Springs audiences don’t have terrific hearing in general and a bit higher level would be appreciated.
Mariah Pryor’s lighting of the set was excellent until the actor tried to work within the lighting design. Moriarty is constantly leaning forward and back and each time she does, she goes from light to shadow and back to light again. It pulls a lot of attention away from her performance. There’s only one actress and she only sits in one position. It’s a mystery as to why she wouldn’t be fully lit no matter which direction she stretches her head. It seems like the designer never actually saw a rehearsal. However, it’s likely that both the sound and lighting issues will be cleared up after opening night.
Top marks to The Bent for bringing this unique work to Palm Springs, and especially for bringing this amazing actress to perform it. Next up is Perfect Arrangement, a funny and stylish look at same-sex relations in the straight-laced ’50s.
photos of Cathy Moriarty as Sue Mengers by Jim Cox
I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers
The Bent Theatre
in association with The Palm Springs Cultural Center
Camelot Theatres, 2300 East Baristo Road in Palm Springs
Fri and Sat at 7; Sun at 2
ends on December 22, 2024
for tickets ($75), visit The Bent
