"Alternative Theatre" Doesn't Have To Mean "Alternative To Good."

End Of The World Party
Written By Chuck Ranberg
Directed By Blake Yelavich
Starring Dan Renzi

How can you miss with THAT line-up?

The FIVE-TIME Emmy-Award winning writer of FRASIER
has written a play about seven bitchy Manhattan guys
vacationing at Fire Island, the mecca of any summer destination
for handsome rich men.
Add into the mix one of the hottest award-winning directors in Austin
with a penchant for making ANY comedy a must-see event -
and throw in one of his best friends, the hot male model
who has been shaking up MTV and reality television
since its inception.

That, my friends, is a recipe for great wild hysterical theater,
and a sure-fire cure for the end of the summertime blues.

Plan an evening with YOUR friends...
At the end of the world, you'll be glad you spent more time
being near them.

Adult Advisory:
We hesitantly advise -
Some language, some adult subject matter,
some nudity, some drug use, some sexual situations,
and one startling event...
but then again, by today's standards it's probably tame.

The American Statesman Review Says This
About End Of The World Party:

IT'S 'END OF THE WORLD PARTY,' AND IT FEELS FINE

For gay Manhattanites of means, beach-weather weekends suggest one thing: Fire Island. Every summer, fortunate New Yorkers help the slender strip of land crawling along Long Island's south shore earn its name.

Chuck Ranberg, an Emmy-winning writer for "Frasier," explored the vacation spot's lure in his 2001 play "End of the World Party," currently onstage at Arts on Real. Ranberg's script, which feels discouragingly like a sitcom pilot, provides little in the way of substantive commentary. Instead, it offers flimsy depictions of an increasingly outmoded reality. The plot (here, secondary to punch lines) involves a gaggle of multigenerational gay men cohabitating in a cottage.

Following his recent success with "Bat Boy: The Musical," director Blake Yelavich has once again elevated a subpar source. Building his cast — and marketing campaign — around reality TV test tube baby Dan Renzi (MTV's "Real World: Miami" and various subsequent spin-offs), Yelavich has crafted a sturdy, if intermittently sloppy, setting. Although the sound cues were shady (an irritating characteristic of Yelavich's shows), the director should be commended for engineering a surprisingly exciting second act.

The role of Hunter allowed Renzi to do his best impersonation of "Sex and the City" actress Kim Cattrall's erstwhile alter ego, Samantha Jones. To be fair, it was a fine impersonation that, save several flubbed lines, supported a generally passable performance. Other actors walked similarly stereotypical lines in their characterizations. Fortunately, the audience consisted of almost exclusively gay men (the three well-lubricated ladies attempting to line dance at intermission might as well have been). And if there's one thing we gay men love, it's a big, sassy stereotype.

Not every part of this production existed in two dimensions, though. As chronically self-conscious Will, Bryan Schneider was memorable for his unassuming approach. Schneider's gentle presence and dry-as-Liza (back on the wagon and looking divine) delivery effected a layered, laugh-out-loud performance.

"End of the World Party" continues at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays through October 29.
Arts on Real, 2826 Real Street, $22, 472-2787.
— Tommy O'Malley