"Direct from her record-breaking bus and truck tour"

Terrence McNally, Angela Lansbury, Terry's husband John Kirdahy, Alan Cumming

Happy birthday today to out-gay playwright Terrence McNally, one of America's greatest living powerhouses of the theatre. From camp to deadly serious, from repertory to musicals, he's tried his hand at them all.

As David Ng recently wrote in the Los Angeles Times:

Unlike some of his contemporaries, McNally hasn't developed a signature writing style or set of thematic obsessions. His plays are remarkably diverse, from the working-class romance Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune to his controversial gay take on the Gospel Corpus Christi to Master Class, his highly honoured drama about a session for aspiring opera singers taught by Maria Callas.

"I don't think I have a style. I have an aesthetic. I believe in a simplicity and fluidity of emotion — from tears to laughter," he said.

And [regular readers may well guess what's next, but I make no apologies for featuring this again] there is one particular production amongst Mr McNally's body of work which, even after all these years and many repeat viewings, can still bring those "tears and laughter" (generally "tears of laughter", actually) to us here at Dolores Delargo Towers.

It is, of course, one of my favourite films of all time - The Ritz!

Buy your copy of The Ritz from Amazon

Terrence McNally (born 3rd November 1928)