SCOTT & ZELDA DANCE--BUT ERNEST KEEPS CUTTING IN

"The Lost Generation," as Gertrude Stein dubbed them, continue to speak to us, even as their art (novels, paintings, poetry) recedes with memory. Their hopes reflect all our of our fondest, flashiest dreams--to live fast and full, leaving behind a beautiful corpse (although hopefully, if improbably, at a ripe old age--hence the advances of plastic surgery!). We all wish to change the world, but doing it in high profile surely has its costs (as Brittany and others will tell you). But all the current wannabes can certainly take a lesson--and a warning--from Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald and their pal, Ernest Hemingway: it may be a glorious life for a while, but you don't get the glory AND to live happily ever after (which these three, despite their disparagement of the concept, so long to achieve).

THE JAZZ AGE, currently on display through March 2nd at 59E59th Theatres, is Allan Knee's evocation of life and dissipation: the celebration of the joy of creation and the sadness of the squandering of talent. Most people know the muse doesn't always perform on cue and inspiration can be fleeting. Still, you have to wonder--if these folks didn't party so hard, hate themselves so much, and drink so DAMNED much, would they have had clearer heads, better discipline and maybe the ability to work (at more reasonable hours)? We celebrate, somewhat morbidly, the time-honored notion that drinking, whoring and promiscous sex lead to greater creativity in the artist. It is one of American society's cherished fantasies, certainly more appealing than achieving one's goals through determination and hard work. But Knee's play isn't arguing that--it's more about those who buy into the lifestyle, the dream, and the price they pay. The waste and the pain they cause themselves because they turn themselves over to their dreams without a lifeline is truly the tragedy here. Knee has been an Off-Broadway fixture for years (MODIGLIANI, among other plays) and the screenwriter of FINDING NEVERLAND, specializing in the intimate private pain of the artist and its effect on his/her output--how the very factors that allow for genius may also set the stage for the ultimate decline and downfall. It is the price Icarus pays for flying too close to the sun with waxen wings.

Chris McElroen, c0-artistic director of Classical Theatre of Harlem, confidently directs a razor-sharp cast of Dana Watkins, Amy Rutberg, and P.J. Sosko (as Scott, Zelda & Hemingway respectively). Beautifully designed and produced on a tight budget, the era is lovingly re-created to help understand the seduction that brings these three down, a Paris created in the mind if not in reality. A tight little combo of live musicians creates an ambiance that canned music would never achieve and scores the evening quite effectively. It's quite an involving evening and, for those who are devotees of this era and these folk, perhaps even a must-see. If it doesn't shed new light on old friends, it at least acts as a cautionary tale for those who live too fast and ultimately die too young.

(Through March 2nd -- www.59e59.org or call (212) 279-4200)

(Disclaimer--again, blog rules: I know many of the artists involved in this, so it's not necessarily an objective opinion--but since it IS my blog, it doesn't have to be! But if it weren't worth your time, I just would have left well enough alone!)