What I liked
The four-person cast (2M/2F) plows through with full-bodied impersonations, the Men somewhat shaded by the Women! MEN = JASON REALE as a knee-high Hoinest Abe with a convincing Lincoln face & ALEX PRICE as his boy friend (maybe boyfriend), attractive and ingratiating. WOMEN = KIMLEIGH SMITH, stealing the whole show from all and sundry as a variety of women (and men) who cross Lincoln’s pre-Presidency path & ANGELA LANDIS, aggressively inserting herself (and her travails) into Lincoln’s life, and story, as Lincoln’s wife & widow..
What I didn't like
THE LINCOLN DEBATE is NOT the right title: ‘tiz too easily mistaken for the Real Lincoln (vs Douglas) pre-Presidential debates 166 years ago! Needs a tag to tie History to a Sly, Sexy Wink that acknowledges the premise! But What? Direction keeps the cast busily in motion, racing through this preview in 75 minutes flat (not the advertised 90 minutes), leaving audience as breathless as the cast is harried! Please let us ALL b-r-e-a-t-h-e and think as we’re hammered with names & dates! Playwright Terry Ray inserts himself on-stage, too, as “The Guide”, too intrusive too often, and another unnecessary step back from absorbing the material.
My overall impression
In today’s hectic (& History-averse) marketplace, what topic can you tap to ignite boxoffice interest in a US President 2 centuries ago? A GAY connection? O-K.!!
Lots of research went into this exploration of Lincoln, ALL of it = regurgitated, every unimportant date & every forgettable name. The “Gay Subtext” is only a “B” story, though, so the script has been bulked-up with already familiar Lincoln lore, making wife/widow Mary Todd another aggressive central character, before his Presidency (getting Honest Abe to the altar…) and after (her vilification by that day’s biased and bigoted media). It’s more than you think you’re buying—-and less. at the same time.
