| Calista Flockhart's star appeal, stemming from her high-hemmed, neurotic television alter ego Ally McBeal, will attract crowds to her off-Broadway play Bash. Fans need to ask themselves something, though — is it Calista they're coming to see, or Ally? If it's the latter, folks, stay home. According to the New York Daily News, a few members of Monday's preview audience walked out of the performance during Flockhart's monologue "Medea Redux." In it, her character icily recounts giving birth to her high school teacher's baby and then apparently killing the child. "I'm a pediatrician and a father," said one exiting attendee, "why should I spent 45 minutes listening to this?" In the final act, "A Gaggle of Saints," the News says Calista portrays a happier, "Ally-like" character … who just happens to be dating a violent, homophobic Mormon (Paul Rudd). Audiences are probably shocked more by the content than Flockhart's acting, which several audience members raved about. Playwright Neil LaBute is also responsible for the Hollywood films In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors, both so black there are few more dark. Bash opens to the public June 24, and runs for only one month. |