Casa Valentina
As I settled in for Casa Valentina , the new play from theatre luminary Harvey Fierstein , I was ready for something to bowl me over. I see a lot of theatre and it had been about a month since I saw something that really excited me. (For those of you keeping score, at the time I saw Casa Valentina , the last thing to excite me was If/Then .) And after the first act of Casa Valentina , I thought I’d found it. The second act disappointed by comparison, but still made for a good production of a good new play. Casa Valentina is “inspired by events that took place in and around the Chevalier d’Eon Resort in the Catskill Mountains in 1962,” playwright Fierstein and director Joe Mantello say in program notes. It was at this resort that heterosexual men who identify as women could relax and dress as themselves, that is, dress in women’s clothing, complete with well-coiffed wigs, perfectly applied make up, undergarments galore, jewelry and heels. (This is an earnest, sincere tale—it...