Even as 75-year-old Terrence McNally continues to churn out new plays and musicals twice as fast as writers half his age, his earlier works are also getting revived.
First came the backstage comedy “It’s Only a Play,” which is receiving an ultra-starry, sold-out production on Broadway, and now there’s “Lips Together, Teeth Apart,” McNally’s far more sober 1991 drama about two married couples spending Fourth of July weekend at a Fire Island beach house, which is being produced Off-Broadway at Second Stage.
Four years ago, the Roundabout was all set to revive the play on Broadway. But after Megan Mullally mysteriously quit during rehearsals, Roundabout scrapped the revival altogether. Based on the current Second Stage production, Roundabout may have dodged a bullet.
“Lips Together, Teeth Apart,” which explores the marital difficulties of middle-aged straight couples as they are surrounded by gay men during the height of the AIDS crisis, has not aged well. It is a three-act play with little plot and plenty of filler, including countless confessional monologues.
Although director Peter DuBois enlisted a fine quartet of actors including America Ferrera, Michael Chernus, Tracee Chimo and Austin Lysy, they are all about a decade too young for their roles. All their sensitive touches do little to counteract the emptiness of the play.
Chimo injects a great deal of energy as a gossipy housewife devoted to community theater productions of classic musicals, but her antics come off as annoying rather than amusing under these circumstances.
Just in case you were wondering, the play’s title refers to a character’s instruction from a dentist not to clench his teeth, not to anything sexual.
If you go: “Lips Together, Teeth Apart” plays through Nov. 23. 305 W. 43rd St., 2st.com.
