This is not the Holiday Inn or the Hilton Towers. Don’t look for the doorman. You may see a hooker – or two. Don’t be surprised that the neon ‘e’ in hotel in the illuminated marquee has burned out. This is the Hotel Baltimore, better known as Hot L Baltimore.
The play goes up Friday at 8 p.m. in the Theatre and Interpretation Center’s Struble Theatre, 1949 Campus Drive.
Lanford Wilson’s Hot L Baltimore opens with the announcement of the hotel’s closing. In the course of one day, the audience sees the connection between the characters and how they’re each threatened by the closing.
Hot L Baltimore, written in 1973, has received much critical acclaim, raking in an Obie, an NY Drama Critics Circle Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award. The play also was a short-lived ABC sitcom in 1975. Director and Communication senior Matt Ratner has gathered a cast of 15 actors to perform the piece.
“Every time the audience thinks they are sure about something and every time they think they have a character pegged down, we surprise them,” Ratner says. “The hotel becomes a reflection of their lives.”
The strong writing and character-driven performances help steer the characters away from being stereotypes. The play intends for the audience to second-guess themselves and re-evaluate their assumptions.
“The play is not about themes,” Ratner says. “It’s about people.”
Originally the play was written in response to the decline of American railroads. Now, the play finds a new meaning, lamenting the decline of interpersonal communication. The core issues that Wilson talks about are even more relevant now, with common use of the Internet and cell phones making the world more impersonal.
“There’s a difference between keeping a connection based on technology and actually being involved with a person, which is far more fulfilling,” Ratner says. “I would rather have three close friends than seventy facebook.com friends.”
This untraditional three-act play, with its multiple storylines, follows the lives and relationships of these characters at the hotel. The hotel acts as a transitory place for drifters and as a home for others because they have no other options.
“If they had anywhere else they could be, that’s where they would be,” Ratner says. “But all of the characters are trapped in a world of stasis. Individually, they are tragically unable to act unless the action is self-destructive.”
A line delivered by Communication senior Melissa Hunter sums up the tragic flaws of all of the hotel’s residents: “Nobody got the conviction to act on their compassion.” Their inability to take action is what connects them – which is the over-arching irony of Hot L Baltimore.
Nevertheless, the Hotel Baltimore, a glorified flop house, holds all of its residents together and, at the same time, personifies their lives.
“Each character is strong enough to have a show of their own, but the ensemble creates a chaos and harmony that is unique,” says Hunter, who plays The Girl – an apt title for a character who is constantly changing her name.
“It’s a 15-person play with 15 plays waiting to be written,” Ratner says.
But the characters’ dysfunctional nature onstage doesn’t influence their relationship offstage. Ratner was nervous while he was casting but he admits that the actors are the glue of the show.
“There aren’t a couple of all-stars who are the leads,” he says. “This is an ensemble show with an ensemble cast where they work together wonderfully.”
Communication junior Creighton Hofeditz, who plays 70-year-old hotel tenant Mr. Morse, agrees.
“The four weeks of rehearsal were extremely challenging,” he says. “But I think the cast has a strong bond.”
Hofeditz says that the cast had to be extremely focused throughout their entire rehearsal period, much as if they were working on a collective crossword puzzle.
“Everyone had something to contribute to a very complex whole,” Hofeditz says.
Northwestern students will be able to walk away from the show with something to ponder.
“It deals with passion and what’s important to you,” says Communication sophomore Reggie Gowland, who plays Paul, a college dropout searching for his grandfather.
“It’s a show where you can focus on the characters and their dimensions,” Gowland continues. “All of the characters are trying to help other, but they can’t help themselves.”
The Hotel Baltimore residents are at different stages in their lives, and the surprise of the show is that the audience members may be directed to find their own purposes.
“The show is a tremendous amount of fun, and you might even get surprised,” Ratner says. “There are some plot twists that you won’t be expecting.”
After its Feb. 3 premiere, Hot L Baltimore will run Feb. 4 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the Theatre and Interpretation Center’s Struble Theatre. Tickets cost $5 for general admission. Tickets are available at the door.
Communication junior Aaron Mays is a PLAY writer. He can be reached at [email protected].