Prior to Monday night’s opening of the Paul Rudnick play, “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told,” the Catholic League was asked by those in the media for a comment. It was our decision to ignore the play. We protested “Corpus Christi” because it was the work of a three-time Tony award winner and had a realistic chance of going to Broadway. But Rudnick is no McNally and his work has zero chance of being shown on Broadway.
At any event, the reviews of “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told” do merit a comment. They have proven to be the most revealing aspect of this work.
Catholic League president William Donohue commented today on the commentators:
“I haven’t seen ‘The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told’ and have no intentions of doing so. But I have read the reviews and it sounds like a routine homosexual play: full-frontal male nudity, filthy language, discussions of body parts, butch lesbians, effeminate gay men, ranting against nature, damning God for AIDS, etc. Interestingly, the reviewers seem torn by Rudnick’s creation.
“The blasphemous elements either go unnoticed or are dismissed cavalierly. Ben Brantley of the New York Times finds ‘reverence in Mr. Rudnick’s irreverence,’ a remark that reveals a great deal more about Mr. Brantley than Mr. Rudnick. After this review, his job at the Times will surely be secure.
“It has been reported that Rudnick’s play is ‘a rebuttal to the religious right’s’ vision of the Bible. Yet USA Today reviewer David Patrick Stearns said ‘this play makes gay people look far worse than the religious right could dream of doing.’ Too bad Mr. Stearns’ sensitivity doesn’t extend to Christians. But the question remains: does the play advance a negative gay stereotype or is it an accurate reflection of reality?”
