By Carol Davis
SAN DIEGO—A one-man show is no easy task to pull off especially if the material is redundant, dated and tries too hard to please. The good news about the Eric H. Weinberger (book), Daniel S. Acquisto (music) and Sammy Buck’s (lyrics) one-man show is that it might appeal to those who have never heard the stories sung (which is doubtful) as it tells about life in the fast lane of a gay man’s struggles in the 70’s/80’s trying to realize a dream. On the other hand, it just might just fall on deaf ears to those who have lived it, heard it and moved on with their lives.
That’s not to say that the production now on stage at Diversionary Theatre in its West Coast Premiere starring Nick Cearley as Randall, son of a prosperous, German/Jewish Holocaust survivor who just wants to be in show business, isn’t entertaining and uplifting. Cearley is very talented. He sings and dances and in between tells Randall’s story. Briefly, Randall is a wannabe actor, singer, dancer and songwriter. When we meet him he is about to audition for a talent show his work is sponsoring.
The entire (almost) two hour show as told in flash back, reveals to us his the up and down journey of having one audition after another followed by one rejection after another, plus tying to prove to his not so approving German-Jewish father that it’s OK if he doesn’t continue on in the family sausage business. That was easier for the old gent to take than the fact that his son was gay. But again, what else is new.
Now if that’s all there was to the Randall story, it wouldn’t be true to life (which according to interviews parallels Nick’s own life). So along with the struggles of working in temp jobs to sustain his show business aspirations and all the pitfalls that encompasses, we are taken on another journey of sorts, of Randall’s love life with the fear of AIDS hanging in the balance. That again is one of falling in love (after the first date in some cases) being rejected and so on. One thing about Randall that one can say with ease is that the guy never lacked perseverance.
The main problem is that it’s entertaining for a while but gets redundant all too soon. The lyrics are tailor made for the story. Some work and others are so-so. The show really hums when the music is there, but the book drags on too long. Between Igor Goldin’s direction and Thomas Hodges’s musical prowess behind the piano, Cearley’s talent does get a chance to shine since he’s on for the entire time. Some amplification would have worked well. Nonetheless, Cearley is engaging, funny and talented. Would that the material was as engaging.
…And Then I Wrote A Song About It is worth a look see to compare how much progress the gay community and gays in general have made since the ‘80’s.
*Worth noting: Diversionary Executive and Artistic Director, Dan Kirsch will be moving on to other projects after this show closes. We wish him luck. He has served Diversionary Theatre and the Gay Community well over these past six years.
Igor Goldin, director of this particular production also directed the popular Yank! a few years ago for Diversionary. It is now in the off-Broadway planning stages something that is hoped for “…And Then I Wrote A Song About It.”
See you at the theatre.
Dates: through April 10th
Organization: Diversionary Theatre
Phone: 619-220-0097
Production Type: Musical
Where: 4545 Park Blvd. #101, San Diego, CA 92116
Ticket Prices: $33.00-$35.00
Web: diversionary.org
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Davis is a San Diego-based theatre critic. She may be contacted at carol.davis@sdjewishworld.com