Charm

C

Philip Dawkins's new play for MCC at the Lucille Lortel Theatre is inspired by events in the life of Miss Gloria Allen, a transgender woman in Chicago who, while in her 60s, volunteered to conduct a class in charm at the local LGBT Center. Mama Darleena Andrews (Sandra Caldwell) arrives at the Center with her well-worn copy of Etiquette in hand and sets out to tame the motley crew who show up for her class. There is Ariela (Hailie Sahar), an attractive “working girl” in her 30s; Jonelle (Jojo Brown), a bright student who wears wings; Beta (Marquise Vilson), a menacing gang member; Victoria (Lauren E Walker) and Donnie (Michael David Baldwin), a married couple whose reason for attending is not immediately apparent; Lady (Marky Irene Diven), a strange figure who babbles and whose gender is initially a mystery; and Logan (Michael Lorz), an affluent, effeminate student who is there out of curiosity. We also meet D (Kelli Simpkins), the Center’s well-meaning program director who has philosophical and practical problems with Darleena’s curriculum. [By happenstance, this is the second character named D that I have encountered this month, the other being the first letter of the Dairy Queen sign in Inanimate.] The overlong first act has too many noisy scenes of the students acting out that shed more heat than light. We don’t get a crisis until the second act. What follows is fairly predictable and not very enlightening. Caldwell quietly creates a vivid character. The others act with more gusto than polish. Arnulfo Maldonado’s set is effectively simple. The costumes by Oana Botez are deliciously over-the-top. Director Will Davis could tighten things up a bit. It’s intermittently entertaining, but not interesting enough to justify its length. Cutting it to a tight 90 minutes might have improved it. Running time two hours 15 minutes including intermission.