Jack (Gil Brady, left) and Miles (Brian Ray Norris, right) visit Miles’ mother, Phyllis (Allison Briner-Dardenne), for her birthday en route to wine country.
When writer Rex Pickett was trying to get his novel Sideways published, he submitted it to film studios as well as book publishers. He has now adapted the novel as a play, but the story’s cinematic nature works against it on stage. Because there are so many scene changes, scenery is simplified to tables and chairs (and the occasional counter or bed) that can be hastily reconfigured to represent various homes, bars, restaurants and outdoor locales. But Sideways has such a strong sense of place—the Oscar-winning 2004 movie fueled a tourism boom for California’s Santa Ynez Valley, and a map of film locations is still available on the Santa Barbara visitors bureau website—that it’s shortchanged by many scenes looking similar and the same backdrop, a lone tree, remaining for the entire play. What scenic designer David L. Arsenault has created is okay (the multiple levels and a faux hot tub work well); it’s just not enough to evoke the landscapes and idea of traveling.
Norris and Kimberly Doreen Burns have the Sideways roles played by Paul Giamatti and Virginia Madsen in the Oscar-winning film. Photographs by Jeremy Daniel.
Sideways follows the Santa Ynez wine-country adventures of Miles and Jack, longtime friends despite major personality and intellectual differences. Jack, a carefree actor-turned-director, is about to get married but is intent on sex being part of this bachelor-party trip; forlorn Miles, an unsuccessful writer, is still hung up on his ex-wife two years after their divorce. He’s the one who should be primed for a relationship but is reluctant to pursue one even with the cute waitress, Maya, who’s obviously interested in him.
Miles’ first love is wine—specifically, pinot noir (yes, the movie’s famous “fucking merlot!” line is in the play). He’s one of those wine guys whose every glass comes with a lecture for his drinking companions and instructions about swirling, sniffing and so forth. Maya knows and appreciates wine too, as does her friend Terra, who works in a tasting room and quickly falls into a torrid affair with Jack.
As much as you want to judge a play on its own merits, it is tough when the film version featured such indelible performances: Paul Giamatti and his three costars were nominated for or won multiple awards, including best cast from the Screen Actors Guild. The actors portraying Miles, Jack, Maya and Terra in the play look right for their roles and give it their best. But Brian Ray Norris doesn’t quite achieve the pathos that was so integral to Giamatti’s making Miles more than a pedantic curmudgeon, and Kimberly Doreen Burns plays Maya with more youthful verve than approaching-middle-age wistfulness. Gil Brady and Jenny Strassburg do a fine job of capturing Jack’s horndog bro-ness and Terra’s sensual confidence. They are directed by Dan Wackerman, artistic director of the Peccadillo Theater Company, which coproduced this staging (the play was previously presented in California and London).
Pickett’s script has some flaws, including a discordant mix of hifalutin cultural references and coarse sex talk. Voicemail messages heard between scenes either are extraneous or contain information that could be—and in some cases is—expressed in dialogue. And an extended Act II sequence revolving around a boar hunt feels mean-spirited and classist and yields no real payoff except to place a gun in Miles and Jack’s hotel room.
Norris and Brady as Miles and Jack enjoy the wine of the Santa Ynez Valley.
That figures in the next scene, when Terra storms in after learning of Jack’s impending marriage. It’s a scene with plenty of black-humor potential, but it’s not staged optimally. As furious as Terra is, there’s no suspense over whether she’d actually shoot Jack. Instead of immediately slugging him or throwing something at him, she basically stands over him yelling—which does not make for good dramatic storytelling or comic effect.
On the plus side, Sideways has fully realized main characters, a quirky story, some laughs and the option to upgrade to an “immersive” Sideways: The Experience. For that, ticket buyers can pay extra to drink wine before the show, at intermission, and when it is poured for audience members while Miles and Jack are drinking—or splurge further for a VIP onstage party 90 minutes before the curtain that features five wines and gourmet hors d’oeuvres (like duck confit mini pot pies, tuna tartare tacos, and baked Brie with caramelized pecans). Only Miles on his worst day couldn’t enjoy a show that starts off like that.
Sideways runs through May 24 at Theatre at St. Clements (423 W. 46th St.). Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are available by calling (866) 811-4111 or visiting sidewaystheexperience.com.
