Breadth don’t always equal pth Matthew Lopez’s supersize, vividly pated portra of gay life the 21st century, featurg E.M. Forster as a spir gui.
Contents:
- WHAT GENERATNS OF GAY MEN HAND DOWN ‘THE INHERANCE’
- FOR KYLE SOLLER, EACH PERFORMANCE OF THE INHERANCE COM WH AN AFTERSHOCKEVEN AFTER NEARLY TWO YEARS OF PLAYG ERIC GLASS THE SEVEN-HOUR, OLIVIER-WNG EPIC, SOLLER HASN’T QUE FOUND THE WAY TO SHAKE OFF THE HEAVS AFTER EACH SHOW.BY CAL BRODYNOVEMBER 20, 2019FROM LEFT, KYLE SOLLER, PL HILTON AND JOHN BENJAM HICKEY THE INHERANCE.BY SARA KLWICH/THE NEW YORK TIM/RX.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEHOW DO ONE GO ABOUT MEMORIZG 400 PAG OF DIALOGUE? EVEN AFTER A YEAR AND A HALF, KYLE SOLLER STILL DON’T KNOW. THE 36-YEAR-OLD BUTED THE ROLE OF ERIC GLASS THE INHERANCE ON THE WT END LAST YEAR, AND NOW IS PLAYG HIM ON BROADWAY. WE SPOKE RECENTLY AFTER ANOTHER LONG WEEKEND OF PERFORMANC: “I DON’T REALLY REMEMBER YTERDAY AT ALL,” HE SAID. “I FEEL LIKE I’M AN AFTERSHOCK.”THE INHERANCE, WRTEN BY MATTHEW LOPEZ (THE WHIPPG MAN) AND DIRECTED BY STEPHEN DALDRY (THE CROWN) HAS BEEN LD AS THE BT PLAY OF THE YEAR—AND PERHAPS EVEN THE CENTURY. THE PLAY, WHICH IS PERFORMED TWO PARTS AND TO A NNG TIME AT NEARLY SEVEN HOURS TOTAL (DON’T WORRY—MIXED NUTS AND CHOLATE BARS ARE SOLD AT THE NCSN), IS A BETIFUL, GRIPPG, AND PLEX FEAT, WHICH THE LIV OF PRENT-DAY NEW YORK CY–BASED GAY MEN ARE LAYERED WH THOSE WHO LIVED AND LOST DURG THE AIDS CRISIS. THE PLAY IS BASED ON E.M. FORSTER’S HOWARDS END, AND TOUCH UPON THE IA OF HERANCE—BOTH MATERIAL AND SPIRUAL. THE IMPACT IS VASTATG; HIS NEW YORK TIM REVIEW BEN BRANTLEY WROTE OF THE END OF PART ONE, “I CHALLENGE ANY THEATERGOER WH A HEART NOT TO CRY.”SOLLER HAS LIVED LONDON SCE GRADUATG OM THE ROYAL AMY OF DRAMATIC ARTS 2008. TWO YEARS AGO HE GOT A LL TO DN FOR THE INHERANCE, BUT THERE WAS A PROBLEM: THE SCRIPT WAS 400 PAG, AND THE DN WAS THE VERY NEXT DAY. “I WAS LIKE, DO THEY DO MIDNIGHT DNS?” HE SAYS. “I STARTED READG THE SCRIPT AND DIDN’T FISH UNTIL I WAS ON THE TUBE GOG TO THE THEATER…. ONCE I STARTED READG, WAS SO PULSIVE AND I KNEW I’D NEVER READ ANYTHG LIKE BEFORE. THERE WAS SOMETHG STANTLY SO UNIQUE, PROFOUND, HILAR, AND MOVG…. I GOT FOUR HOURS OF SLEEP THAT NIGHT.”HE WAS THE FIRST PERSON ST THE INHERANCE, AND STAYED WH THE PLAY WHEN MOVED OM THE YOUNG VIC TO THE WT END 2018. THE INHERANCE WAS A H AT THE OLIVIER AWARDS, WNG BT NEW PLAY, DIRECTOR, LIGHTG SIGN, AND SOLLER WNG BT ACTOR, AS WELL AS THE CRICS’ CIRCLE THEATRE AWARDS, NABBG BT NEW PLAY, DIRECTOR, AND ANOTHER W FOR SOLLER. THE ACTOR, WHO WAS ONE OF SEVERAL ORIGAL ACTORS WHO MOVED OM LONDON TO THE BROADWAY OPENG THIS MONTH, REGNIZ THE WEIGHTY MSAGE AT THE HEART OF THE PLAY, AND HOW MUCH HAS MEANT TO DIENC. “MATTHEW’S PLAY REALLY ASKS, WHAT IS THE HERED RPONSIBILY THAT WE OWE TOWARD THE YOUNGER GENERATN G UP, AND HOW N WE BRG THE TWO GENERATNS TOGETHER TO FE A BETTER FUTURE?”ERIC GLASS IS THE CENTRAL FIGURE OF THE INHERANCE, THE IALIST WHO SURROUNDS HIMSELF WH IENDS WHO ARE VIBRANT AND TERTG BEE HE DON’T SEE HIMSELF THAT SAME WAY. “I REALLY ADMIRE ERIC. HE HAS A LEVEL OF ALTISM THAT I THK IS VERY ENVIABLE AND I DON’T KNOW IF ’S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THE MORN WORLD THAT WE LIVE ,” SOLLER SAID. “HE RECEIV A LOT OF PA AND GRIEF, BUT HAS AN CREDIBLY POSIVE OUTLOOK ON LIFE. YOU DON’T FD MANY CENTRAL CHARACTERS WHO ARE REALLY TRYG TO BE GOOD.”TO PUT BLUNTLY, PLAYG ERIC GLASS FOR A YEAR AND A HALF—AND THAT’S EVEN BEFORE THE BROADWAY PREMIERE—HAS TAKEN OVER SOLLER’S LIFE. HE EVEN DREAMS AS ERIC GLASS. “IT’S ALL-NSUMG, AND KD OF HAS TO BE—’S SO FAST AND SO HUGE,” HE SAYS OF THE MATERIAL, WHICH LOPEZ AND DALDRY HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO WORK AND REWORK EVEN UP UNTIL OPENG NIGHT. SOLLER IS STILL LEARNG HOW TO SHAKE OFF THE HEAVS AT THE END OF A PERFORMANCE. “I HAVE TO TAKE A SHOWER AFTER THE SHOWS, JT TO KD OF WASH AWAY…BUT I HAVEN’T FOUND A FIXED THG THAT REALLY WORKS. THE UNRTAKG OF THIS IS A PHYSIL AND EMOTNAL JOURNEY THAT I’VE NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE. COUPLED WH THAT ARE THE PEOPLE WHO WE MEET AFTER THE SHOW AT THE STAGE DOOR WHO TELL ABOUT THEIR OWN JOURNEYS OF SURVIVAL. THAT KD OF EMOTNAL HEAVS IS SOMETHG I’M STILL TRYG TO FD A WAY TO LET GO OF.”BUT SOLLER ISN’T TOO NCERNED ABOUT THAT. “WE’RE LEARNG MORE HORRIBLE TTHS EVERY DAY OM OUR NEWSFEEDS, BUT A PLAY ABOUT LOVE, ACCEPTANCE, TST, BEG HONT, AND LOOKG TO YOUR FELLOW HUMANS TO CREATE A BETTER FUTURE FOR EACH OTHER AND HONORG YOUR PAST AND LEARNG OM YOUR MISTAK TO CREATE A BETTER WORLD FOR EACH OTHER IS THE KD OF FUCKG PLAY WE NEED RIGHT NOW.”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— CATCHG UP WH DAVID LETTERMAN, 10 YEARS AFTER THIS WRER WHO WORKED ON HIS SHOW CRICIZED HIM AN OP-ED— HERE’S WHY CHANCE THE RAPPER IS THE BT SNL HOST WE’VE SEEN SO FAR— HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT HARRY AND MEGHAN’S WAR ON THE TABLOIDS— LORI LOUGHL AND HER FAY ARE NSTANT CHAOS— SELENA GOMEZ SHAR WHY SHE FALLY LET GO OF JT BIEBER DRAMA— FROM THE ARCHIVE: MEET THE DYNAME SOCIALE PRCS OF BAVARIALOOKG FOR MORE? SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY NEWSLETTER AND NEVER MISS A STORY.MOST POPULARDONALD TMP’S LAWYER CAN’T STOP GOG ON TV AND MAKG DONALD TMP LOOK RIDICULOLY GUILTY OF THE CRIM HE’S BEEN ACCED OFBY BS LEVWE’RE ONLY JT STARTG TO UNPACK REX HERMANN’S NEW YORKBY DAN ADLERRON DESANTIS’S LARGT DONOR CLOS HIS WALLET, CG ABORTN “EXTREMISM”BY JACK MCCORDICKCAL BRODY
- KYLE SOLLER GIV EMOTNAL SPEECH ABOUT AIDS, BNEI AFTER GAY-THEMED PLAY ‘THE INHERANCE’ SWEEPS LONDON AWARDS — WATCH
WHAT GENERATNS OF GAY MEN HAND DOWN ‘THE INHERANCE’
* kyle soller gay *
The star of the h gay theatre epic tells the story of gay men New York Cy a generatn after the Aids crisis and although the Matthew Lopez play has achieved cril acclaim, Soller said LGBT+ reprentatn theatre is “not anywhere near” where should be. Gay. At the start of the play, Eric radiat warmth and telligence, and off as a kdly, morn New York Cy gay man.
“Eric thks of himself as a clued-up gay New Yorker, ” Soller explas. “He has a strong gay muny of iends, knows about the Stonewall rts…” But, Soller pots out, what he do not have is a sense of place and ownership. Key to that disvery is a chance meetg wh another gay man: Walter Poole (portrayed by the great Pl Hilton), an olr neighbor who shar a eply personal acunt of the vastatn the AIDS epimic laid bare on his circle of iends the 1980s.
FOR KYLE SOLLER, EACH PERFORMANCE OF THE INHERANCE COM WH AN AFTERSHOCKEVEN AFTER NEARLY TWO YEARS OF PLAYG ERIC GLASS THE SEVEN-HOUR, OLIVIER-WNG EPIC, SOLLER HASN’T QUE FOUND THE WAY TO SHAKE OFF THE HEAVS AFTER EACH SHOW.BY CAL BRODYNOVEMBER 20, 2019FROM LEFT, KYLE SOLLER, PL HILTON AND JOHN BENJAM HICKEY THE INHERANCE.BY SARA KLWICH/THE NEW YORK TIM/RX.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEHOW DO ONE GO ABOUT MEMORIZG 400 PAG OF DIALOGUE? EVEN AFTER A YEAR AND A HALF, KYLE SOLLER STILL DON’T KNOW. THE 36-YEAR-OLD BUTED THE ROLE OF ERIC GLASS THE INHERANCE ON THE WT END LAST YEAR, AND NOW IS PLAYG HIM ON BROADWAY. WE SPOKE RECENTLY AFTER ANOTHER LONG WEEKEND OF PERFORMANC: “I DON’T REALLY REMEMBER YTERDAY AT ALL,” HE SAID. “I FEEL LIKE I’M AN AFTERSHOCK.”THE INHERANCE, WRTEN BY MATTHEW LOPEZ (THE WHIPPG MAN) AND DIRECTED BY STEPHEN DALDRY (THE CROWN) HAS BEEN LD AS THE BT PLAY OF THE YEAR—AND PERHAPS EVEN THE CENTURY. THE PLAY, WHICH IS PERFORMED TWO PARTS AND TO A NNG TIME AT NEARLY SEVEN HOURS TOTAL (DON’T WORRY—MIXED NUTS AND CHOLATE BARS ARE SOLD AT THE NCSN), IS A BETIFUL, GRIPPG, AND PLEX FEAT, WHICH THE LIV OF PRENT-DAY NEW YORK CY–BASED GAY MEN ARE LAYERED WH THOSE WHO LIVED AND LOST DURG THE AIDS CRISIS. THE PLAY IS BASED ON E.M. FORSTER’S HOWARDS END, AND TOUCH UPON THE IA OF HERANCE—BOTH MATERIAL AND SPIRUAL. THE IMPACT IS VASTATG; HIS NEW YORK TIM REVIEW BEN BRANTLEY WROTE OF THE END OF PART ONE, “I CHALLENGE ANY THEATERGOER WH A HEART NOT TO CRY.”SOLLER HAS LIVED LONDON SCE GRADUATG OM THE ROYAL AMY OF DRAMATIC ARTS 2008. TWO YEARS AGO HE GOT A LL TO DN FOR THE INHERANCE, BUT THERE WAS A PROBLEM: THE SCRIPT WAS 400 PAG, AND THE DN WAS THE VERY NEXT DAY. “I WAS LIKE, DO THEY DO MIDNIGHT DNS?” HE SAYS. “I STARTED READG THE SCRIPT AND DIDN’T FISH UNTIL I WAS ON THE TUBE GOG TO THE THEATER…. ONCE I STARTED READG, WAS SO PULSIVE AND I KNEW I’D NEVER READ ANYTHG LIKE BEFORE. THERE WAS SOMETHG STANTLY SO UNIQUE, PROFOUND, HILAR, AND MOVG…. I GOT FOUR HOURS OF SLEEP THAT NIGHT.”HE WAS THE FIRST PERSON ST THE INHERANCE, AND STAYED WH THE PLAY WHEN MOVED OM THE YOUNG VIC TO THE WT END 2018. THE INHERANCE WAS A H AT THE OLIVIER AWARDS, WNG BT NEW PLAY, DIRECTOR, LIGHTG SIGN, AND SOLLER WNG BT ACTOR, AS WELL AS THE CRICS’ CIRCLE THEATRE AWARDS, NABBG BT NEW PLAY, DIRECTOR, AND ANOTHER W FOR SOLLER. THE ACTOR, WHO WAS ONE OF SEVERAL ORIGAL ACTORS WHO MOVED OM LONDON TO THE BROADWAY OPENG THIS MONTH, REGNIZ THE WEIGHTY MSAGE AT THE HEART OF THE PLAY, AND HOW MUCH HAS MEANT TO DIENC. “MATTHEW’S PLAY REALLY ASKS, WHAT IS THE HERED RPONSIBILY THAT WE OWE TOWARD THE YOUNGER GENERATN G UP, AND HOW N WE BRG THE TWO GENERATNS TOGETHER TO FE A BETTER FUTURE?”ERIC GLASS IS THE CENTRAL FIGURE OF THE INHERANCE, THE IALIST WHO SURROUNDS HIMSELF WH IENDS WHO ARE VIBRANT AND TERTG BEE HE DON’T SEE HIMSELF THAT SAME WAY. “I REALLY ADMIRE ERIC. HE HAS A LEVEL OF ALTISM THAT I THK IS VERY ENVIABLE AND I DON’T KNOW IF ’S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THE MORN WORLD THAT WE LIVE ,” SOLLER SAID. “HE RECEIV A LOT OF PA AND GRIEF, BUT HAS AN CREDIBLY POSIVE OUTLOOK ON LIFE. YOU DON’T FD MANY CENTRAL CHARACTERS WHO ARE REALLY TRYG TO BE GOOD.”TO PUT BLUNTLY, PLAYG ERIC GLASS FOR A YEAR AND A HALF—AND THAT’S EVEN BEFORE THE BROADWAY PREMIERE—HAS TAKEN OVER SOLLER’S LIFE. HE EVEN DREAMS AS ERIC GLASS. “IT’S ALL-NSUMG, AND KD OF HAS TO BE—’S SO FAST AND SO HUGE,” HE SAYS OF THE MATERIAL, WHICH LOPEZ AND DALDRY HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO WORK AND REWORK EVEN UP UNTIL OPENG NIGHT. SOLLER IS STILL LEARNG HOW TO SHAKE OFF THE HEAVS AT THE END OF A PERFORMANCE. “I HAVE TO TAKE A SHOWER AFTER THE SHOWS, JT TO KD OF WASH AWAY…BUT I HAVEN’T FOUND A FIXED THG THAT REALLY WORKS. THE UNRTAKG OF THIS IS A PHYSIL AND EMOTNAL JOURNEY THAT I’VE NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE. COUPLED WH THAT ARE THE PEOPLE WHO WE MEET AFTER THE SHOW AT THE STAGE DOOR WHO TELL ABOUT THEIR OWN JOURNEYS OF SURVIVAL. THAT KD OF EMOTNAL HEAVS IS SOMETHG I’M STILL TRYG TO FD A WAY TO LET GO OF.”BUT SOLLER ISN’T TOO NCERNED ABOUT THAT. “WE’RE LEARNG MORE HORRIBLE TTHS EVERY DAY OM OUR NEWSFEEDS, BUT A PLAY ABOUT LOVE, ACCEPTANCE, TST, BEG HONT, AND LOOKG TO YOUR FELLOW HUMANS TO CREATE A BETTER FUTURE FOR EACH OTHER AND HONORG YOUR PAST AND LEARNG OM YOUR MISTAK TO CREATE A BETTER WORLD FOR EACH OTHER IS THE KD OF FUCKG PLAY WE NEED RIGHT NOW.”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— CATCHG UP WH DAVID LETTERMAN, 10 YEARS AFTER THIS WRER WHO WORKED ON HIS SHOW CRICIZED HIM AN OP-ED— HERE’S WHY CHANCE THE RAPPER IS THE BT SNL HOST WE’VE SEEN SO FAR— HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT HARRY AND MEGHAN’S WAR ON THE TABLOIDS— LORI LOUGHL AND HER FAY ARE NSTANT CHAOS— SELENA GOMEZ SHAR WHY SHE FALLY LET GO OF JT BIEBER DRAMA— FROM THE ARCHIVE: MEET THE DYNAME SOCIALE PRCS OF BAVARIALOOKG FOR MORE? SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY NEWSLETTER AND NEVER MISS A STORY.MOST POPULARDONALD TMP’S LAWYER CAN’T STOP GOG ON TV AND MAKG DONALD TMP LOOK RIDICULOLY GUILTY OF THE CRIM HE’S BEEN ACCED OFBY BS LEVWE’RE ONLY JT STARTG TO UNPACK REX HERMANN’S NEW YORKBY DAN ADLERRON DESANTIS’S LARGT DONOR CLOS HIS WALLET, CG ABORTN “EXTREMISM”BY JACK MCCORDICKCAL BRODY
Those emotns, and the profound iendship between Eric and Walter, are key to Lopez’s tentns craftg Broadway’s latt gay epic. Forster’s 1910 novel Howard’s End offers The Inherance much of s stcture, wh Eric standg for heroe Margaret Schlegel (and Walter for Ruth Wilx, owner of the tular tate), the notn of generatns of gay men (cludg Forster) listeng and learng om the pa and passn of each other’s liv is what mak the play poignant.
Although he’s bee a passnate LGBTQ ally, Soller himself isn’t gay.
“I did all the thgs we talk about dog the play—I went to the Whney, the Film Fom, the Jewish Mm, gay bars. He now often thks about the olr gay men who worked alongsi him muny theater when he was a kid, lookg after him ways he didn't see at the time.
KYLE SOLLER GIV EMOTNAL SPEECH ABOUT AIDS, BNEI AFTER GAY-THEMED PLAY ‘THE INHERANCE’ SWEEPS LONDON AWARDS — WATCH
14, Tanner for The New York Tim“I n’t image what those years were like, ” says a young gay man named Eric, ntemplatg the worst of the AIDS crisis. As a gay update of “Howards End, ” be about what is hand down, both lerally and symbolilly, om one generatn of the muny to the, Lopez said, a play about generatns of gay men “uldn’t not be about AIDS.