By now, theatergoers have heard that Diversionary Theatre’s production of Harvey Fierstein’s “Torch Song Trilogy” is four hours long. That is true. It was that long on Broadway when Fierstein copped the 1983 Tony Award for play and performer. Next?
They’ve also heard that the production, playing through Dec. 16 at Diversionary’s intimate theater in University Heights, is excellent and worth the posterior wear and tear. That is also true. The ensemble is as fine as that of any “Torch Song” in this writer’s experience, and it’s certainly among the best productions in Diversionary’s oeuvre.
One wishes they had thrown another thousand dollars at David Weiner’s well-designed sets ” the crew works efficiently to make scene changes during two 12-minute intervals ” but Jennifer Brawn Gittings’ costumes, especially Arnold’s glittery, feathered drag queen outfit, are fine. So are the other production elements, including director Tim Irving’s sound design, Bonnie Breckenridge’s lighting and Amy Reams’ droll props.
Think of the play as the shortest opera in Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Truly, those rumors that it feels like three hours are true. The trilogy, at first staged individually off-off- and off-Broadway, is in a sense Fierstein’s Ring. They have all the elements of tragedy: unfeeling lovers that flee what they love and fear most, a mother from hell and a wounded wife. Because Fierstein is the author, the story is rife with equal doses of laughter and pathos, and the plot ends poignantly yet hopefully. Set in New York City, the play was written prior to the era of AIDS, and though certain props and topical references are updated, nothing of that tragedy is even spectral except in viewers’ minds. Representing the human family, a mix of male and female, gay and straight, old and young composed the sold-out-to-the-walls audience Sunday, Nov. 25. There were tears, laughter and, at the curtain call, a loud standing ovation.
Arnold Beckoff (the Fierstein role, stunningly played by Matthew Weeden) is a successful drag entertainer. One night after his show he meets Ed (the excellent Barron Henzel) and takes him home. Though he loves Arnold in his fashion, Ed is in truth a bisexual simultaneously involved with Laurel (Amy Sitton), something that sends the volatile Arnold into a tizzy.
Honest Ed tells Laurel, now his fiancée, about his affair with Arnold, and she insists they invite Arnold to their country home for the weekend. Ed is consumed with jealously when Arnold brings along his new young boyfriend Alan (gorgeous Sidney Franklin). In the uproariously staged second act, all appear to be in a gigantic bed together (they are not, at least not all together).
The mother from hell (Jill Drexler) appears in Act III and when she meets Arnold’s adopted teenage son (Tom Zohar) and Ed, estranged from now-wife Laurel, the homophobic mom wrongly assumes a ménage a trois. Fierstein doesn’t shrink from writing explosive scenes during which long-hidden suspicion, anger and even love become apparent.
The ensemble, an ensemble in every sense of the word, is up to every moment, every nuance of Fierstein’s deeply compassionate play. To miss the experience and Matthew Weeden’s eyes would be a pity.
“Torch Song Trilogy” plays at 7 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday, through Dec. 16, at Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Blvd. For tickets ($31-$35, with discounts for seniors, students and active military with ID, $10 student rush one hour prior to curtain) or information, visit www.diversionary.org or call (619) 220-0097.

Uptown Christmas
Through Dec. 16: Common Ground Theatre (at the World Beat Center, 2100 Park Blvd., San Diego) dedicates its holiday production, “Christmas Is Comin’ Uptown,” to its founding artistic director, the late Dr. Floyd Gaffney, who was longtime professor of drama and dance at UCSD.
With lyrics by Peter Udell, music by Garry Sherman, book by Phillip Rose and Udell and staging by Charles W. Patmon Jr., the work is loosely based on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” The major reason to attend is Warren Nolan Jr., who’s just returned from the tenth annual national tour of “Rent.” As one would expect, he knows his way around the stage, having appeared in numerous productions at Moonlight Amphitheatre, the Old Globe and La Jolla Playhouse. Without a keyboard (5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2) it was difficult to assess the gospel-tinged music, but the large ensemble is enthusiastic and performs with heart in this community theater piece for the entire family.
For tickets and information, visit www.commongroundtheatre.org or call (619) 263-7911.