The Ritz: A New Comedy

by Terrence McNally

Set in a gay bathhouse in the mid-1970s, Terrence McNally's door-slamming farce features hilarious misunderstandings and mishaps among towel-clad men, bumbling detectives and Googie Gomez, an over-the-top, would-be Bette Midler looking for her big break.

Genres: Plays, Fiction, LGBT, Humor, Drama

61 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 1976

About the author

Terrence McNally was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," McNally was the recipient of five Tony Awards. He won the Tony Award for Best Play for Love! Valour!

Reviews

[Martin Denton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrence McNally's script is a razor-sharp and hilarious contemporary farce. You'll notice I didn't say "sex farce" because, though it's set in a pre-AIDS gay bathhouse, there is no sex anywhere in this play: just a rollicking romp filled with mistaken identities, people in the wrong place at the wrong time, people who are pretending to be somebody else, and more people, just being their richly human silly selves.

It all begins when Gaetano Proclo, a businessman from Cleveland, Ohio, stumbles into the Ritz, a deluxe gay bathhouse in New York City during the halcyon Studio 54/disco era. Proclo is on the run from his gangster-ish brother-in-law, who is planning to kill him (his father's dying wish). He asked a cabbie to bring him to the last place anyone would think of finding him, and the Ritz is where the cabbie delivers him.

It's quite a setup: seemingly acres of rooms for anonymous trysting, plus a steam room, a disco, a gymnasium, and more. On the night that Proclo has stumbled in here, the place is filled with patrons, including a "chubby chaser" named Claude who immediately becomes enamored with Proclo (who weighs around 240). Also on hand is a likeable fellow named Chris who eventually befriends Proclo. Tiger and Duff, two hunky blond attendants who look like brothers but are in fact lovers of three years' standing, also figure into events.

Michael Brick, a dim private detective with a falsetto voice, turns up, hired by Proclo's brother-in-law Carmine to catch him in flagrante delicto with a Ritz patron.

And then there's Googie Gomez, singer and presence non pareil, a woman with practically no talent who is performing in the Ritz's nightclub. She's been told that a big producer will be in the audience tonight, and she's pretty sure that Proclo is her man.

Lots of comedy ensues.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saw part of a PBS documentary about McNally which got me interested in reading some of his plays & started with this since it was the first I came across & I could also get a copy of the movie to watch after I read it (the movie starred many of the same actors who were in the original cast which is rather fun). Enjoyable & fun fish-out-of-water story of a man hiding from his murderous brother-in-law in a NY bathhouse in the 1970's. I came away thinking this was very dated, but in a good way since attitudes about gays & gay culture has changed so much in a relatively short time. A fun, fast read

[Brian McCann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A madcap glimpse into another time. Pure farce. Sure it’s dated. But it’s a fun read. Lots of fun.

[C.L. McCartney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun 70s farce set in a gay bathhouse. Feels like a bit of a period piece now, but it has its moments.