Mario Cantone and Jerry Dixon try an open relationship in off-Broadway’s Steve.
By Brandon Voss
Husbands Mario Cantone and Jerry Dixon don’t really think they’re anything like their characters, partners Matt and Brian, in Steve, Mark Gerrard’s new play about gay men in the throes of midlife crisis.
“First of all — spoiler alert — but a threesome would be out of the question for us,” says Dixon, who describes Matt and Brian’s situation as “a typical seven-year itch.” The Broadway vets have been together 25 years, but who are they to judge? “I think every relationship has its own rules and it’s nobody else’s business,” Cantone says. “Good for them. Do what works for you.”
Directed by Cantone’s Sex and the City co-star Cynthia Nixon, the New Group’s world-premiere production opens November 18 at the Pershing Square Signature Center. Matt McGrath and Malcolm Gets also star as Steven and Stephen, another couple at a crossroads. “Having all these rights now doesn’t negate the fact that gay couples have always wanted the freedom to carve out their own lives,” Dixon says. “How wonderful to have a play that deals with adult choices. And what a gift that gay men in a play can be discussing midlife! You wouldn’t have had this play 20 years ago.”
“It’s a very different time,” adds Cantone. “Now that we can have marriage and kids, we’re going to see our own stories on Investigation Discovery. Husbands poisoning husbands, Menendez kids who’ll kill us for our money — all that shit straight people have to deal with. It’s great.”
Next, November 2015.