{"id":50834,"date":"2022-02-22T18:08:49","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T18:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=50834"},"modified":"2022-02-22T18:08:49","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T18:08:49","slug":"gilded-age-recap-nathan-lane","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/gilded-age-recap-nathan-lane\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Gilded Age\u2019: Nathan Lane Has Entered The Chat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Nathan
Nathan Lane as Ward McAllister in The Gilded Age<\/i> (Image courtesy of HBO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sometimes a man walks into a room and everything changes. Everyone else fades into the background, and the world around you melts away. You forget the petty squabbles and romantic entanglements that have plagued your mind lo these many weeks and all you can think of is this captivating new presence. This beguiling, intriguing, enticing new person. His wit, his laugh, his je ne sais quoi<\/em>. You want nothing more than to be near him, to bask in the glow of his charm. You\u2019ve never seen anyone like him! Is he angel or devil? You don\u2019t even care! All you know is that you must be near him, you must never be separated, you must never be far from the magic of his presence. Who is this fascinating creature and where has he been all your life?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Nathan Lane and I don\u2019t know where he\u2019s been but now he\u2019s on The Gilded Age<\/em><\/a> and that\u2019s all that matters because his performance is bonkers! <\/em>Like, in his head, what show does he imagine he\u2019s in? Also, who cares! Because he is amazing! <\/em>So amazing, in fact, that I\u2019m canceling everything to do with anyone else on this show this week because Nathan Lane is the only thing that deserves our collective attention. Gladys and some Tiger Beat handsome rando? Who are they<\/em>? Oscar and Turner\u2019s scheme summit? That can wait! Mr. Raikes raking Marian in a Danville hotel corridor? No one cares about them anyway! This week, we only have eyes for Nathan Lane!<\/p>\n

Ok, so national gay treasure Nathan Lane\u2014who is going to star opposite Megan Thee Stallion<\/a> in<\/em> a musical comedy <\/em><\/a>soon\u2014makes his Gilded Age <\/em>debut this week as social arbiter Ward McAllister. See, Mr. McAllister has been v. v. curious about Bertha\u2019s new McMansion because he likes money and rich people and fancy things. Which is good, because this is the guy who helps New York society doyenne Mrs. Astor decide who is in<\/em> and who is out<\/em>. I guess he\u2019s kinda like the little mint julip tongued Iago whispering in her ear? Seems like gross and sinister, right? But that doesn\u2019t matter because Nathan Lane is a bloody delight!<\/p>\n

\"Nathan
Nathan Lane with Louisa Jacobson and Kelli O’Hara in The Gilded Age<\/i> (Photo: Alison Cohen Rosa\/HBO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His entrance is momentous! A liveried footman announces his arrival and steps aside to reveal Nathan Lane looking extremely effing pleased with himself and his prodigious moustache! For a split second, I thought, Oh, this will be fun<\/em>. But I had no idea, because then Nathan Lane speaks<\/em> and the heavens opened up and rained glory upon everyone in this scene, upon me, upon Julian Fellowes<\/a>, upon The Gilded Age<\/em>, HBO, HBO Max, the real Gilded Age, New York past and present, and a new age of wonders has dawned for us all. You see, the real McAllister\u2014yes,<\/em> this was a real guy and not a cartoon character Baron Julian Fellowes made up!\u2014was from Savannah, Ga., so of course Nathan Lane is doing a crazy Foghorn Leghorn accent. \u201cWhah, Ah do declayah, Missus Ruhhssle, Ah showah have been dahin\u2019 to see youwa railroad castle!\u201d I grew up in the South and my real granny\u2019s actual name is Mrs. Russell, so now I am dead after this!<\/p>\n

But the point of all this is that Bertha has kinda extorted Mrs. Fane\u2014honestly, I still have only the barest conception of who this character is; her husband is hot though\u2014into introducing her into polite society or whatever. And that\u2019s why she\u2019s introducing her to Mr. McAllister, who has a hankering for all the juicy railroading gossip, so they are going to be the fanciest of friends! \u201cTee hee hee<\/em>,\u201d all the rich ladies titter at Mr. McAllister\u2019s droll witticisms, \u201cWhat an amusingly flamboyant male person who has tons of opinions about flowers and fashion and fine dining and how I should look and act and live my life!\u201d And thus the ancient toxic relationship between gay men and society hags continues ever onward unto our doom\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Thomas
Thomas Cocquerel in The Gilded Age<\/i>. The panic in Mr. Raikes’s eyes says it all. (Image courtesy of HBO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of course, the real Ward McAllister was married and had three children. But you don\u2019t get Nathan Lane to play a gossipy society character for nothin\u2019, and he really<\/em> puts some extra sauce on his intro to Mr. Raikes, who is also here for some reason. \u201cLet us hope Ah may be of help to you, Mistah Raikes,\u201d he says, grasping the young social climbing lawyer\u2019s hand with both of his, pulling him close and gazing at him meaningfully <\/em>over his moustache. This, I assume, is essentially the Gilded Age equivalent of tapping someone on Grindr.<\/p>\n

But anyway, the real love connection that\u2019s made at this luncheon is between Mr. McAllister and Bertha. He\u2019s super into her (money and her chef and her house) and vow to introduce her to all the right people. So, they\u2019re going to be a little bitchy dynamic duo now, because as handsome Mr. Fane says, \u201cThey are more or less the same person.\u201d Which is actually kind of a sick burn!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s to more of this absurd and entertaining character in the coming weeks! We\u2019ll resume the matchmaking and \u2019shipping<\/a> next week. For now though, I need to try to figure out how to make Nathan Lane\u2019s Ward McAllister\u2019s Colonel Sanders laugh my ringtone.<\/p>\n

More Gilded Age <\/em>Matchmaking and Shipping New:<\/strong><\/p>\n