Review: I’LL EAT YOU LAST: A CONVERSATION WITH SUE MENGERS at The Bent

In 2015, Vanity Fair published an article about the first super agent in Hollywood, Sue Mengers. Mengers career started where all women agents started in 1961, as a secretary. It was the same year she met the not-yet legendary Barbra Streisand, “before she lost the ‘a’,” quips Cathy Moriarty as Mengers in The Bents staging of John Logan’s play, I’LL EAT YOU LAST: A Chat With Sue Mengers, which premiered on Friday, December 6. 

While Moriarty has done many films and television shows, she is most associated with the role of Vickie La Motta opposite Robert DeNiro in the classic film RAGING BULL, and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1981. Moriarty was 17 at the time RAGING BULL was filmed. Poised for stardom, Bronx native Moriarty had a big setback in 1985 when her back was broken in a car accident. However she roared back to life with memorable supporting roles in SOAPDISH, and indie hit BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER, as well as two more recouplings with DeNiro in ANALYZE THAT, and COPLAND. She recently completed two films, but hadn't carried a one-woman play until now. Everyone should be happy she decided to stretch her acting chops to include this intimate little stage show.

The minute she speaks on stage, the memories of those iconic roles come roaring back, as she gives us a thorough examination of what makes Mengers tick. And she would know, Moriarty was one of Mengers’ clients.

She walks us down memory lane, through her relationships with clients including Streisand, from whom Mengers is awaiting the call from, the one where she knows Streisand is going to fire her.

It was opening night, and there were some technical difficulties but Moriarty works her way through that. Even pros can get opening night jitters, but it doesn’t take her long to settle in, and when she does, the hard-living, ballsy character of Mengers springs to life. 

She tells us stories about clients Candice Bergen, Michael Caine, Dyan Cannon, Brian De Palma, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Sidney Lumet, Ali MacGraw, Steve McQueen, Tatum O'Neal, Ryan O'Neal, and Burt Reynolds - which ones she liked, and the ones who hated her. Sadly, there were no stories about Cher, who she represented, and in our little big town where Sonny Bono was once mayor, that would have made a big splash. But that’s the playwright, not the actor. Rosenbaum's casting of Moriarty as Mengers was a great choice, her memorable Bronx accents, and raspy voice are perfect for tough-as-nails Mengers. 

The tech issues I mentioned have been settled, and Moriarty is devouring a role she almost didn’t take. In an interview with local writer Jason Maninno, she said this about her journey to taking on Mengers, “Something drew me to the project, which it turns out is my love for Sue. Also, I know I can bring some vulnerability to her. Anybody that met Sue knows she was the boss and that she loved her job very much. I think I get her. People feared her, but she wasn’t all bulldog. Everyone was champing at the bit to be repped by her. At the time, I didn’t have a clue how important she was.” And that understanding Moriarty  pours into her role as her own former agent gives us a very well-rounded, sweet and salty performance.

I’ll Eat You Last plays thru 12/22 at The Bent. Tickets here.

Sue Mengers: Cathy Moriarty

Director: Steve Rosenbaum

Sound design: Damian Jesus Mercado

Set design: Jason Reale

Lighting design: Mariah Pryor

Costume design: Cheryl Lanning

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