"Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune" - by Terrence McNally - Psych Drama Company (Boston, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: Cliff Blake as "Johnny" and Wendy Lippe as "Frankie" in a scene from Terrence McNally's "FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE" from The Psych Drama Company, now playing at the BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre in Boston, MA. until June 28, 2026. Photo credit: Joe Heroun Photography)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
“I think you see the other person better in the light of the afterglow.”
- (“Frankie”) / Terrence McNally
THE PSYCH DRAMA COMPANY
Presents Terrence McNally's
"FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE"
Written by Terrence McNally
Directed by Julia Murney
Cast Includes: Wendy Lippe as "Frankie," Cliff Blake as "Johnny" Adam Elliot Rush as "Radio Announcer (Voice)."
Additional Creative Team:
Producing Artistic Director - Wendy Lippe; Assistant Producer - Cliff Blake ; Stage Manager - Alex Zieselman; Technical Director, Set Design, Set Builder - Allie Glavey; Sound Design - Olivia Comolli; Lighting Design - Matthew Breton; Marketing Director - Charlie Berger; Assistant Producer, Board Operator, Costumes/Props - Maithili Rajput; Intimacy Coordinator - Katie Thorn.
Presented by THE PSYCH DRAMA COMPANY as hosted by the BCA Boston Center for the Arts.
Performances:
June 19, 2026 through June 28, 2026
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
Performances to be held at BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre, 539 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02116
TICKETS:
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COVID 19 PROTOCOLS
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(Warning: The following review contains spoilers)
The Psych Drama Company basks in the glow of the intimately staged sentimental two-hander "FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE" now playing at the BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre in Boston.
The production, written by five-time Tony Award-winner Terrence McNally and directed by two-time Drama Desk Award-nominee Julia Murney, explores both physical and emotional closeness and sincerity.
Supposedly set in “the present” according to the script, the story is reflective of its “present” which was the mid-1980s when it was written.
Some of the content would be most problematic by today's cultural standards, but "FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE" does provide an unfiltered portrayal of a male-female bonding ritual of four decades ago.
As two people share a singular intimate moment, they each seem to long for the possibility of something more…something grander and more in line with prolonged romantic reciprocity.
They just don’t know if that might be with each other…yet.
There is classical music playing in the background on the radio to help with the “mood” as the two lovers explore a multitude of post-coital conversational topics spanning from the mundane to crude to eloquently ethereal to something bordering on the bizarre.
For context - "CLAIR DE LUNE" is a French phrase that translates to “moonlight” and is best known as the title of the third and most famous movement of the “Suite Bergamasque” composed in 1890 by French Impressionist musician Claude Debussy.
The song does figure into the story as being played on the radio but is never really mentioned in a culture reference outside of it serving as an example of “the most beautiful music ever written” by one of the couple.
(Photo: Wendy Lippe as "Frankie" and Cliff Blake as "Johnny" in a scene from Terrence McNally's "FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE" from The Psych Drama Company, now playing at the BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre in Boston, MA. until June 28, 2026. Photo credit: Joe Heroun Photography)
"FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE" opened Off-Broadway in 1987 and was originally directed by esteemed character actor Paul Benedict (fondly recalled for his role on “The Jeffersons”) featuring Kathy Bates and F. Murray Abraham.
Bates would go on to win a 1988 Obie Award and received a Drama Desk Award nomination.
It wouldn’t be until 2002 that the show would finally be revived, making its Broadway debut, directed by Joe Mantello and starring Edie Falco and Stanley Tucci.
The revival would run for a respectable 243 performances and 15 previews, receiving nominations for Best Revival of a Play and for Best Leading Actor for Tucci.
In 2019, another revival would feature Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon and again receive two nominations, one for Best Revival and one for Best Leading Actress for McDonald.
A 1991 film adaptation by McNally (with the shortened title “Frankie & Johnny”) starred Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer.
As the The Psych Drama Company production unfolds, JOHNNY (Cliff Blake) is a short order cook while FRANKIE (Wendy Lippe) is a waitress as "FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE" begins in darkness with the couple having sex in her small walk-up apartment along Manhattan’s west side.
(Photo: Wendy Lippe as "Frankie" in a scene from Terrence McNally's "FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE" from The Psych Drama Company, now playing at the BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre in Boston, MA. until June 28, 2026. Photo credit: Joe Heroun Photography)
We soon find out these two working-class people are emotionally damaged, barely scraping by, somehow managing to get through each mundane workday in one piece only to go home to their equally mundane apartments.
Both have spent the better part of their collective existence wasting precious time in search of a “happily ever after” that has yet to emerge.
However, where FRANKIE sees her life at a dead end, JOHNNY is more optimistic, especially now.
After making love with FRANKIE for this very first time, JOHNNY is certain he has found his “soul mate” and immediately makes this clear this to an unnerved FRANKIE.
(Photo: Cliff Blake as "Johnny" and Wendy Lippe as "Frankie" in a scene from Terrence McNally's "FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE" from The Psych Drama Company, now playing at the BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre in Boston, MA. until June 28, 2026. Photo credit: Joe Heroun Photography)
FRANKIE is more realistic and sees their encounter as a simple hook-up, an amusing diversion from her grey existence in the form of a one-night stand, and asks JOHNNY to leave.
However, JOHNNY doesn’t leave which, if this show really were taking place in the present, the show would quickly turn into a "Law & Order: SVU" episode and JOHNNY would probably be in police custody within moments.
There are endless discussions which reveal the backstories of each of them and, slowly, FRANKIE sees JOHNNY as less malevolent and more pathetic, much like her.
JOHNNY calls a local radio station helmed by an unnamed "Radio Announcer” (voiced by Adam Elliot Rush) and requests Debussy’s "CLAIR DE LUNE" in an attempt to fill the night with romance.
(Photo: Cliff Blake as "Johnny" in a scene from Terrence McNally's "FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE" from The Psych Drama Company, now playing at the BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre in Boston, MA. until June 28, 2026. Photo credit: Joe Heroun Photography)
For the The Psych Drama Company production, director Julia Murney's intimate blackbox theatre staging was kept minimal yet effective, but the overall lighting was problematic, inconsistent and overly dimmed with the actors occasionally performing dialogue in darkness.
Both actors are completely invested in their characters, conveying the crassness of the McNally dialog of who they are now as individuals and where they each came from, juxtaposed with McNally’s eloquent and sympathetic approach to where they are now together and where they just might wind up.
Both Lippe and Blake give emotionally in-depth portrayals, even despite the production as presented on June 19th having a delayed start, multiple technical issues which also obscured the show’s ending - all of these occurring outside of the actors’ control.
As the story progresses, FRANKIE AND JOHNNY slowly reveal more about themselves to one another, proceeding slowly and cautiously to see if there might be a connection here that will lead to something more.
(Photo: Cliff Blake as "Johnny" and Wendy Lippe as "Frankie" in a scene from Terrence McNally's "FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE" from The Psych Drama Company, now playing at the BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre in Boston, MA. until June 28, 2026. Photo credit: Joe Heroun Photography)
Offering how life sometimes appears deceptively better under the spell cast by a melody celebrating a moonlight glow, The Psych Drama Company's "FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE" continues at the BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre in Boston until June 28th, 2026.
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Approximately two hours, 20 minutes with one intermission.
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE PLAY
Terrence McNally's "FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE" explores intimacy and vulnerability in humanity’s most sensitive moments, and encourages trust and companionship when something positive comes into one’s life.
As the curtain rises and the lights go up dimly on the set of a Hell’s Kitchen apartment, we discover our two protagonists in bed together, finishing up a first date fling.
As the mood settles from lovemaking to the moments after, it’s clear that Frankie, a sardonic and slightly guarded waitress, would like Johnny to leave, but Johnny, the new cook in the diner where she works, has other plans.
Romantically grandiose and heavily persuasive, Johnny already harbors deep feelings for Frankie, and in what we discover is typical brazen honesty from him, attempts to persuade her into a further relationship.
The two are hardly following their dreams on any front in life; Frankie moved to the city years ago to be an actress, and Johnny doesn’t know what he wants to do, but neither expected or wanted to find a future in a Greek diner.
Johnny has the sparkling, fantastical ability to paint stunning pictures of what could be, but Frankie, a sometimes harsh realist too far along in life to find dreams fruitful anymore, doesn’t understand his candor and can’t relate to his willingness to jump headfirst into love.
As the night wanes into morning, and their connection deepens as they enjoy food and friendship, they discover countless coincidental similarities that start to seem uncanny.
Questions are raised and doubts grappled with that start to make their future together seem viable and truly heartfelt.
Accompanied by classical music on the radio that transports the both of them into a more tender life from the ones they lead outside this bedroom, they find kindness and camaraderie with one another in a way that’s new to both of them.
Through Frankie and Johnny’s tentative romantic beginnings, and their complicated but sweet hope for a good prospects together, the audience is urged to celebrate connection, and to learn from one another how best to have faith in our common bonds when the world has taught us not to in the past (STAGEAGENT).
ABOUT THE PSYCH DRAMA COMPANY
THE PSYCH DRAMA COMPANY's mission is to examine theatrical works through a psychological lens. Producing emotionally powerful, immersive, thought-provoking theater. With our world being as fast-paced and technology-driven as it is, PSYCH DRAMA COMPANY seeks to hold space for the public to meaningfully reflect on their lives and relationships in new ways. PSYCH DRAMA COMPANY's unique integration of theater and psychology facilitates the creation of that space.
Mailing Address:
1514 Beacon Street, # 38
Brookline, MA. 02446
# 617-275-9167
