FIERSTEIN SHARES THE GLORY IN 'A CATERED AFFAIR'.

Byline: EVAN HENERSON

>THEATER CRITIC

Brave indeed is the actor who steps out of the wings onto the same performance space as Harvey Fierstein. Whether playing himself, a John Waters drag diva or "Fiddler on the Roof" lead Tevye, the raspy voiced behemoth of Broadway figures to draw the spotlight like a two-ton magnet draws iron filings.

Or so you might think. What's notable about the John Doyle-directed production of "A Catered Affair" -- which heads from San Diego's Old Globe Theatre to Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre in April -- is what this rueful play is not.

It is not overblown. It is not lavish, dripping with frightful costumes, elaborate set pieces and the like. Most interestingly, it is not -- despite the unmistakable presence of Fierstein as both actor and book writer -- a Fiersteinapalooza. You'll know the man's there. At times you may wish he wasn't, but the musical doesn't tilt on his axis.

Now it's just possible that Fierstein -- the "Torch Song Trilogy" and "Hairspray" star -- recognized a shiny penny of a supporting role when he wrote it and simply didn't feel like shouldering the load so completely on his return to Broadway. I'd rather believe that Fierstein, with Doyle's blessing, knew that "A Catered Affair" belonged rightfully to the still remarkable Faith Prince.

Adapted from the 1956 film by Richard Brooks and Gore Vidal (and based on Paddy Chayefsky's play), "A Catered Affair" is actually a very small tale. Against the strict wishes of their practical-minded daughter and her fiance, a working-class mother and father in the Bronx in 1953 elect to blow their nest egg on a corker of a wedding. Fancy dresses are worn, menus are consulted, but the party never takes place. Curtain. And it's all over in about 105 minutes.

Really, the biggest thing about this 10-person "Affair" are the high-climbing brownstones and fire escapes that set designer David Gallo uses to give the setting some breadth. The inside/outside, all-the-neighborhood-is-watching aura works to little effect since Doyle has all of three people he can employ as a chorus.

This is the same John Doyle who recently directed "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny" for L.A. Opera and whose minimalist production of "Sweeney Todd" will reach the Ahmanson in 2008. Given the relative economy of scale, cast and subject matter in "A Catered Affair," you get the sense that this director likes working small scale.

Doyle's partner in this venture is the up-and-coming composer John Bucchino, whose nimble verse trippings make him a disciple of the Stephen Sondheim method.

"A Catered Affair" is, at its essence, the story of a mother who wants her daughter to have more laughs, love and life that she herself has received, and the father who, despite being a cheapskate, isn't ready to chalk up his marriage to being loveless.

Tom Wopat, earthy and self-contained, plays the father while a nicely glamor-free Leslie Kritzer is Janey, the daughter who doesn't exactly resent the parental fawning her folks bestowed on her brother, but doesn't not resent it either. Both deliver creditable performances, but Matt Cavenaugh -- as Janey's fiance, Ralph -- is left with with a largely undeveloped character.

Then there's Prince, whose matron Aggie is powered by some fuel, some longing, her character isn't fully aware of. Prince, who won a Tony playing "Guys and Dolls" desperate-to-wed moll Miss Adelaide, offers up Aggie without a trace of self-pity or ruefulness. Yet when she hangs on to the last bars of the song "Our Only Daughter," well, you know exactly how long the bitterness and resentment has been stewing.

This trio of characters, while a bit stock, certainly feel more authentic than the Uncle Winston that Fierstein has written. Taking himself from the flamboyantly drunken party guest who makes an ass of himself at a family dinner (via an awful tune called "Immediate Family") to the wise uncle with the sage curtain-dropping wisdom ("Coney Island"), Fierstein mugs but doesn't flatten the endeavor.

"A Catered Affair" is smaller than its nova of a co-star. Fortunately, Fierstein has the good sense to recognize that fact.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

[e-mail]

A CATERED AFFAIR - Three stars

>Where: Old Globe Theatre, San Diego.

>When: 7 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday and Sunday, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, through Nov. 11.

>Tickets: $62-$79. [phone], www.theoldglobe.org.

>In a nutshell: A bigger-than-life writer/actor writes a small show.

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Photo:

Harvey Fierstein, left, Faith Prince and Tom Wopat star in The Old Globe's Broadway-bound new musical "A Catered Affair." Fierstein wrote the script, with music and lyrics by John Bucchino.