Every Act of Life

Seamlessly blending the artistic and personal for a rounded portrait of four-time Tony Award winning playwright Terrence McNally, filmmaker Jeff Kaufman’s PBS-aired American Masters documentary is a warm, life-affirming tribute to a titan in the American theatre. Viewers hear from his brother (who describes the horrors for Terrence of growing up gay in South Texas with an abusive, drunken father); his muses (Tyne Daly, Angela Lansbury, Rita Moreno, Christine Baranski); agents of fortune (F. Murray Abraham, Nathan Lane, Joe Mantello, Anthony Heald); and still-living lovers, including his husband, Tom Kirdahy. McNally talks about his long affairs with Edward Albee and several other actors, writers, and directors, although when he speaks of his close relationship with late playwright Wendy Wasserstein, he leaves it to others to acknowledge that he had a romantic attachment. McNally’s alcoholism and his lung cancer battle both represent dramatic chapters in his personal life. And then there’s McNally’s work: an astonishingly prolific output of dramas, comedies, and musicals, all noteworthy for his trademark ability to strip characters to their core of fears, rage, bigotry, and the nagging question in their hearts of whether they matter. Clips are included from performances/films of Love! Valour! Compassion!, Master Class, The Stendhal Syndrome, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Ritz, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, and Corpus Christi (which was enormously controversial for its depiction of a gay Jesus). McNally was also one of the few playwrights who addressed life with AIDS during the epidemic’s peak years. A fine celebration of a gifted and entertaining legend, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)