"Torch Song Trilogy" highlights complexities of LGBT issues

When the drag entertainer Virginia Hamm gets ready to perform, she does so with all the cattiness and zeal of a showstopping diva. When she disrobes, however, the vulnerabilities of her alter ego, Arnold Beckoff, begin to surface, and we are quickly brought into the not-so-glamorous, love-is-uncertain world of gay 1970’s New York.

So begins StageWest’s production of “Torch Song Trilogy” at the Des Moines Civic Center’s Stoner Theater, a play which serves as both a window to the past and a mirror to the present, revealing a spectrum of issues that are timeless in relevance and in sexuality: bisexual romantic ties, family approval, and adoption in nontraditional families, to name a few. Brad Dell stars as Arnold Beckoff, a young gay man trying to find his place romantically in 1970s New York. Through his relationships with his lovers, friends, and eventually an adopted son, Arnold endures strife and interpersonal conflict to ultimately discover who and what constitutes his family.

Dell’s standout portrayal of Arnold as a passionate, frustrated, indecisive and desperate man who is both fiercely independent and intrinsically sensitive is a compelling vision of not only his character’s complexity, but also the tumultuous times his character occupies. To better prepare for their roles, Dell explained, StageWest hired a dramaturgist and a voice coach to educate them on 1970s gay culture, the art of high drag entertainers, and 70s-era backroom bars.

Beginning in Manhattan in 1973, “Torch Song Trilogy,” composed of three interconnected plays written by Harvey Fierstein, has a unique placement in the timeline of gay rights: post-1969, when the Stonewall Riots brought gay rights and discrimination into the media spotlight, and pre-1981, when the AIDS epidemic changed the gay community forever. Although the potential to politicize “Trilogy” is unavoidable considering the material of the play, the StageWest cast does a remarkable job in bringing multifaceted nuance and genuine emotional appeal to characters whose struggles reach beyond political boundaries and enter a more familiar, universal area: the human need for love and acceptance.

StageWest’s production prefers minimalist set design and full black-box exposure to its dynamic characters, a plus when considering the pivotal and emotional confrontation scenes that mark the climaxes of each of the three plays. The title itself, "Torch Song Trilogy," refers to a type of musical number that laments unrequited or lost love. 

“A torch song itself is a song of tragedy, and a means to recover from that tragedy,” says Scott Siepker, who plays Ed, Arnold's bisexual lover. “We all are our own torch songs.”

Although "Trilogy" may run a bit long for those who are less patient (at a little over four hours, with two ten minute intermissions), those who appreciate an involving, realistic, and witty drama on love--raw, messy, changing, uncertain and powerful--will not be disappointed.

“Torch Song Trilogy” runs until June 27th in the Stoner Theater at the Des Moines Civic Center. For ticket information, call (515) 309-0251, or visit www.stagewestiowa.com.