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Karen Heller: In 'The Prince,' shades of Fumo

Bill Clinton's follies bled Primary Colors. Huey Long inspired All the King's Men. Nixon was the one, a muse of theater, movies, opera. So why not honor our Lear, former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo?

Bill Clinton's follies bled

Primary Colors

. Huey Long inspired

All the King's Men

. Nixon was the one, a muse of theater, movies, opera. So why not honor our Lear, former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo?

Fumo may be temporarily gone - to federal prison - but hardly forgotten. Now he's art. He's the subject, of sorts, of the Walnut Street Theatre's The Prince, beginning with previews tonight and running through Feb. 7. Written by costars Armen Pandola and Bill Van Horn, the two-person play is the story of "power, passion, greed, and corruption," though not power tools, in the person of Democratic state senator Paul "the Duke" Ducachevski. The Prince weaves the philosophy of Machiavelli with contemporary politics and pierogis.

Mind you, Philadelphia is not named. The setting is a Northeastern city with river wards and proposed casinos. Pandola and Van Horn prove politic enough to not once, in a post-rehearsal interview, mention Fumo by name. But you catch their drift.

Especially when Walnut artistic director Bernard Havard, who commissioned the play, says, "I was fascinated by the Fumo trial. I couldn't get enough of it. Hubris comes to mind."

Sound familiar?

Like a certain Philadelphia pol, Duke, played with brio by Van Horn (who also directs), is twice-divorced, orders his girlfriend tailed, carries multiple cell phones (like "Senator R2D2"), borrows yachts for political business, and shakes down powerful entities to fund a community charity. So it's a construction company, instead of Peco Energy, funding Better Urban Living instead of Citizens for Better Neighborhoods.

Alas, there is not a solitary mention of an Oreck vacuum cleaner, let alone Fumo's 19, passing up an opportunity for product placement.

Duke is more outgoing and charming - Rendellian, if you will - while less paranoid and obsessive than Fumo. He's street smart but situationally stupid. Both men are profane, entitled, certain the law can't touch them. Selfishly, I'm sorry to report that although Fumo loathes a certain daily newspaper, the press barely registers as an issue. Duke is always ready to talk. Yeah, right, in our dreams.

The Prince's primary government witness is Duke's son, instead of his son-in-law. Duke bills the government for meals at the Palm; Fumo preferred La Veranda. The Duke's voice is like a bullhorn; Fumo's has more of a sandpaper rasp. Duke is indicted on 210 counts; Fumo on 137. Call it dramatic license.

Pandola plays Duke's counsel, which is fitting. By day, he's a trial lawyer - civil, not criminal. For a year, he and Van Horn hammered out the script in his Center City office, never once visiting the Fumo trial, arguably last year's most riveting, long-running performance.

Pierogis and Providence

As for Duke's inspiration, "I saw Tip O'Neill in him, all politics being local," Van Horn says, and former Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci. Pandola grew up in South Philadelphia, like Fumo, but intentionally made Duke not Italian. Duke's hangout is a deli specializing in pierogis, though he runs his machine from "the bunker," much like a former state senator's Tasker Street office.

While the two colleagues were writing, political corruption cases kept erupting like Whack-a-Mole: Rod Blagojevich, Mark Sanford, and the Harrisburg indictment of various state legislators and staff. "We could never stay ahead of the curve," Pandola says.

Duke is given to saying, "It's all official business. When I take a [bodily function], it's official business." Frankly, I was hoping to hear some of my favorite Fumo inspirational dicta: "My only obligation as senator is to go to Harrisburg and vote," or "It's also a violation to spit on the sidewalk, but I don't know if it's enforced." Or: "What the [expletive] did I ever do to deserve all this? Take a ride on a [expletive] boat?"

The performance made me nostalgic for Fumo World, for the 22 weeks of last year's compelling courtroom saga, so much so that I sincerely hope the feds are busy working on their next installment.