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Lee, great line about the elevator. I knew it couldn't be hers.

As for the Normal Heart, there is a very important moment in the script when Ned asks his brother to admit that they are the same, and the brother cannot do it. It goes deeper than that in the dialogue. Basically, Ned's brother Ben thinks that Ned is sick. Not from AIDS, from gay. Not normal. Something is wrong with him because he was born different. Ned has a great line "Your theory turns me into a man from Mars. My theory doesn't do that to you." It's the whole point of the play, which is not called The Normal Heart for nothing.

It's also important dramatically, because of what follows. Ned cuts his brother out of his life, saying he will not speak to him until he can embrace him as normal. This is something which appears in other scripts, like Twilight of the Golds, or Torch Song Trilogy. Its an action which is unnecessarily hurtful, and more than a bit self absorbed. (At what point in creation was it promised to anyone that they will be accepted on all levels by everyone? We make allowances for one another, and we love the people we love, even if we can't accept everything about them. The reverse should be true.)

At the very end of the play, when Ned's husband is dying, Ben and Ned embrace. Ben has come to accept his brother, but more importantly, Ned has matured. He has lost everything that matters to him. His brother, the organization he created, and the man he loves. That loss has forced him to grow. He is less brittle, less angry, more accepting of others. More open to love.

Barbra's line worked well in that concert, and was a positive message, broadcast from the giant screen overlooking Times Square. Even so, in the context of the play, the concept that we are all the same is essential. Just as it was in Yentl. Avigdor and Anshel argue about the meaning of a word. Is it rib or side? Yentl says side and claims it proves men and women are the same. That was the point, right?

So, men and women are the same, but men and men are not?

Hi Frank. Miragod asked a question about a specific line in the play, and Zevnik and I provided answers. I don't see how that is beating the subject to death. Perhaps a new conversation should have been started about the Normal Heart, instead of tacking it on to this one about the house. However, as it is, if you don't want to read people's thoughts about either subject, please feel free to skip over them.