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A different type of love story

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, through Oct. 23 at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N MacInnes Place, Tampa. 8 p.m. today-Sat., 4 p.m. Sun. $16.50-$21.50. Adult content, including brief nudity. 813 229-7827; www.tbpac.org

By MARTY CLEAR
Published October 6, 2005

When Terrence McNally wrote Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, the actor he had in mind to play Frankie, the female lede, was Kathy Bates.

When the movie version came out, the title had been shortened to Frankie and Johnny, and the role was filled by Michelle Pfeiffer.

There's quite a different tone to the play than the film version. So people who come to the stage version of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune expecting the light comedy/drama they saw in the film are in for a surprise. The play is darker, denser and more substantial than its film adaptation.

"I don't want to simplify it by calling it a romantic comedy or a love story," said Paul Potenza, who's playing Johnny in the Jobsite theater production at the Shimberg Playhouse of Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. "It's actually more of a character study. It's two people who have had some bad breaks along the way and they find each other."

It was Jobsite regular Ami Sallee Corley who initially suggested that Jobsite produce McNally's play, and she ended up being cast as Frankie.

"It is a love story," she said. "But it's a unique love story in that it's a love story of two has-beens. It's not a fairy tale."

For both Potenza and Corley, and for director David Jenkins, the appeal of the play comes largely from the honesty and emotional frankness of McNally's characters. Those traits were diluted in the movie, which was designed for mass appeal.

"I really like these two people," Jenkins said. "They're iconic. They're archetypal. They're real, regular people, and the play resonates so much because of that."

The play essentially consists of a first date between two no-longer-young working-class people. Frankie's a greasy-spoon waitress and Johnny's a literate ex-con who has taken a job as a short order cook at Frankie's restaurant.

We first meet them after they've made love for the first time. Frankie wants to be left alone, but Johnny wants to keep the conversation going.

There's an element of a typical boy-meets-girl love story, but these aren't the fresh-faced protagonists of standard romantic fare.

"The subject of scars comes up several times," Jenkins said. "And one of the things that appeals to me is that in the end, there's no promise made that everything's going to be wonderful. There's hope, but there's no promise. You just get the feeling that these people have finally broken through each other's armor."

[Last modified October 6, 2005, 01:13:15]