His-and-her nudity is front and center in “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” — but this rom-dram’s success isn’t measured in flesh alone.
Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon both bare their bodies and their feelings as Frankie, a guarded waitress, and Johnny, a pushy cook in the same greasy spoon, whose one-night stand could lead to more. So exposed are they that the revival that opened Thursday should be rated X-hilarating.
Terrence McNally’s 1987 play begins with dimly lit, noisy, gymnastic sex. Post-boink, she throws on a robe, he pulls on boxers, and they get to know each other. He comes on freakishly strong, praising her every which way, including her private parts. He assumes they’re an instant couple, but she wants him out of her Hell’s Kitchen studio as soon as he can put his clothes back on.
Frankie has her reasons for not wanting to jump into a relationship. “Everybody has scars,” she tells Johnny. That’s not talking figuratively: She’s not even sure what a metaphor is — or so she says, in an unconvincing character detail. But through the wee hours, their talk turns to kids, jail stints, music and maybe making a future together. Can they? Should they?
McDonald, who’s won a record six Tonys, including ones for McNally’s “Master Class” and “Ragtime,” is a marvel once more. By turns earthy and vulnerable, fiery and fetching, she hits all the right notes in a role Kathy Bates originated opposite F. Murray Abraham, whose voice is now heard as a radio announcer.
Shannon, sad-eyed and lanky, oozes unvarnished sincerity, even though Frankie tells him he’s “weird.” You feel his regret after he gruffly insults her education. He’s got keen knife skills to boot, as he whips her up a western omelet. This woman is hungry, and not just for food.
Like its lost-soul lovebirds, the play is likable, tender and funny — and has issues. The second half essentially repeats the first, making for a long-winded evening.
But the performances make up for it, and director Arin Arbus adds a grace note with a sly shift in Frankie’s apartment. Love — even a hint of it, the scene suggests — makes the world open up.