Austin American-Statesman
Performance: Austin, Texas
30-Apr-98

The wait is over. For Austin audiences eager to belly back up to the Tuna buffet, the third in the trilogy of Tuna plays, "Red, White and Tuna," has finally arrived. Hometown creators Joe Sears and Jaston Williams have packed this installment with enough cross-dressing, big hair, loud polyester and politically incorrect humor to satisfy even the heartiest Tuna fan's appetite. A word to the wise, though -- watch out for Aunt Pearl's potato salad.

"There's nothing more healthy than laughter," said Sears from Galveston, where the play opened this month. Sears and Williams, who perform all 21 roles and can slip into a dress quicker than you can say "low humor," hope to put Austin audiences in the pink when the production opens Tuesday for a five-week run at the Paramount Theatre.

Set on the Fourth of July, "Red, White and Tuna" continues to chronicle the trials and tribulations of the denizens of Tuna, the third smallest town in Texas. Setting the play on Independence Day gave the two writers plenty of material to make the new spoof sparkle. "In small towns,"Williams said, "the Fourth has always had a frightening mix of God and country, of swimsuits and explosives." Picking up several years after "A Tuna Christmas," the Fourth of July festivities are combined with the Tuna High School reunion. The crowning of the reunion homecoming queen provides its own type of fireworks as Vera Carp, Aunt Pearl and Didi Snavley (whose used-weapons store bears the slogan: "If we can't kill it, it's immortal") all vie for the crown.

Tuna's roots go back to 1981, when the pair improvised a sketch at an Austin party. There was such an enthusiastic response the two actors turned the sketch into a play, and "Greater Tuna" was born. Over the 17-year span, the subject matter has matured, and, according to Williams, is now "wading into tricky waters and looking at sexual relationships between husbands and wives." Sears credits Williams with this new direction: "Jaston is the head writer. He wrote a lot of sexuality into the new show, and I allowed myself to be dragged up there with him. I'm very self-conscious about being in a dress even, and Jaston had to take me up there." Williams confesses, "There were times I'd have to prod Joe a little bit. But then he'd reach a point and say, 'Well, let's take this one step farther.' "

In addition to the (un)usual "Tuna" suspects that audiences across the country have come to love, "Red, White and Tuna" features two new characters. Meet retrograde hippies Amber Wind-chime and Star Bird-feather.

Sears found the prototype of his character, Star, in Austin.

"Before Tuna began, I used to sell wind chimes on The Drag," he said. "Star was based on the women I worked with there." Sears first performed Star at an impromptu baby shower for a pregnant stage manager in 1987. When Williams saw Sears playing Star, he knew he'd have to find a sidekick.

Williams had a high-spirited time developing his new character: "I was a serious hippie myself and have a great deal of affection for the counterculture," he said. This affection shows through the light satirical jabs Sears and Williams take at hippie culture. Amber and Star want "organic motor oil" for their road-trip back to the Tuna High reunion and worry that the Tastee Kreme food booth will serve only cooked flesh.

It's not all spoof and satire, though. Sears and Williams have gown older with these characters, and over time their portrayals have mellowed. When writing the new show, Sears refused to go for an easy laugh if it meant "letting our characters do anything that they wouldn't do. We like them too much." Added Williams: "We couldn't have written this piece 17 years ago. We didn't have the life experience. We have allowed our characters to grow and change."

Everett Evans, theater writer for the Houston Chronicle, also observes, "They've added more poignancy to the characters." Evans, who saw the Galveston show, says, "Repeated exposure has brought them closer to the characters, and by 'Red, White and Tuna' the satiric jibes at the moral majority have softened. I guess they didn't want it to work only on that level. It's been successful because they've been able to adapt and change with their characters."

Perhaps painting their characters with finer touches instead of the customary broad strokes is what kept "Red, White and Tuna" in the wings for so long. "A Tuna Christmas" arrived in 1989 and earned Sears a Tony nomination in 1995 for his acting. But Williams and Sears don't see the nine-year gap as all that long.

"We never intended to do anything until after we took 'A Tuna Christmas' to New York, and then once that was done we'd move on," says Williams. "A Tuna Christmas" ran on Broadway in 1995, and Sears says they spent the next two years "putting a lot of talk into it ('Red, White and Tuna'). Then we wrote it in the summer of 1997."

In a rare moment, Williams goes silent for a second and adds: "There were some serious personal tragedies in our lives, and there's no way to do this sort of stuff when you're in a state of grief. (Williams' son was killed in an accident, and the pair's longtime dresser died of AIDS.) It's been a healing process. It's time to get it to Austin.

Fans should make sure they catch this "Tuna" because it might be the last to surface. With the trilogy officially complete, who knows if another Tuna play will make it to the buffet. Sears sounds like he knows: " 'Red, White and Tuna' is it for me. Jaston might have more in him, but I'm ready to go up to Wyoming and rest for a while. That doesn't mean I'm not going to perform 'Tuna' anymore. I'll do the tours, but I'm not going to be creating anymore."

When asked about another play, Williams laughs. "I have quit trying to guess that one. I've quit dealing in absolutes. If there was going to be another one, I'd probably call it 'Rest in Tuna'."