Review: TRU Presented as a True Tour-de-Force Performance by Michael-Anthony Nozzi

Adapted from the words and works of Truman Capote, the play TRU by Jay Presson Allen is set in the writer's New York City apartment at 870 United Nations Plaza the week before Christmas 1975. An excerpt from Capote's infamous unfinished roman a clef, Answered Prayers, recently has been published in Esquire. Having recognized thinly veiled versions of themselves, Manhattan socialites such as Babe Paley and Slim Keith have turned their backs on the man they once considered a close confidant. Alone and lonely, Capote soothes himself with pills, vodka, marijuana, and chocolate truffles, all the while musing about his checkered life and career in what is essentially a two-act monodrama.

When TRU premiered on Broadway, Robert Morse won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show for his tour-de-force portrayal of Truman Capote. For his performance in the 1992 American Playhouse presentation of TRU, Morse won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.

As a way to pay it forward, Morse is acting as the Creative Consultant for the all-new run of TRU at the Primitive Stage in Woodland Hills starring Michael-Anthony Nozzi who gives his own tour-de-force performance as the lonely writer. The intimate production is directed by Brian Robert Harris, but no doubt Morse played a huge part in transforming Nozzi into the iconic 70's bon vivante sweetheart.

Nozzi is no stranger to the stage - he has been designing sets, performing, directing, and choreographing professionally for the last 50 years. His larger-than-life portrayal of Capote is so nuanced and complete, you will forget for awhile that you are not really in the presence of the great writer of Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood as he struggles to cope with being alone and lonely during the holidays. Nozzi takes you through Capote's full range of over-the-top emotions and gestures, but then retreats to the simplest small detail during his many phone calls. Most striking for me was Nozzi running a finger along the edge of his ever present glass of booze as he was thinking what to say next to the person on the other end of the phone.

With booze, the occasional joint, and food to keep him company, Nozzi's Capote ponders what he has done with his life, what horrors he faced as a child in the Deep South, his loving relationship with his Aunt Sook, his knowledge of being gay almost from the moment he was born, and his deep burning desire to be loved and thought of as a great writer. I can honestly say I learned a great deal about the author as I was totally immersed in Nozzi's telling of the tales of Capote's very interesting life.

TRU is set to be a limited engagement with performances every Friday and Saturday night at 8:00pm from March 6 through March 21 at The Primitive Stage. The theatre is located at 21610 Ventura Blvd. in Woodland Hills, CA 91364. The theater is very easy to miss given it is hidden in the corner of a small strip mall. But it is well worth the search given the brilliant work being done by Michael-Anthony Nozzi within its walls.

For tickets, please call the box office at (818) 685-9907 or go online to the theatre's website www.theprimitivestage.com. For more show information, please contact Julie Fergus at (818) 685-9907. And for those of you lucky to get a ticket, look for Robert Morse in the audience as he has promised to attend every performance. And don't be afraid to walk up and say "hi."

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