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"Sheridan Square" |
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At: The Duplex Cabaret Theatre
Reviewer: Melissa Anelli for Theatre Reviews Limited |
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Boy meets boy, boy gets AIDS, boy struggles with death. That's the cliché most gay theatre stumbles into nowadays. But take a stroll through Phil Geoffrey Bond's "Sheridan Square," and you'll find something much different - a realistic trisect of a man's troubled existence.
No, he thankfully does not contract AIDS, although the microscopic killer is alluded to. He contracts lethal doses of reality.
  
Bond's imaginative script is light and witty, and his own performance the highlight of his show. Representing the protagonist’s youth as a department store worker and optimistic auditioner, he is a "Bloomie's" ad just waiting to happen. At first it's hard to tell if it is his good looks that make the 56K connection with his audience, but after a few minutes it is obvious that his classic comic timing and cologne trigger-finger have something to do with it.
It takes a short while longer to warm up to the character’s older counterparts. Al Centauri as the bitter middle-ager contrasts with Bond's naivete. Centauri sings Brett Kristofferson's "Shitty People," with a gentle swagger, the archetypal show-biz sway that leaks through its composition (minus the title lyrics). Tim Cahill is the old pro, settled and content in his personality. Nothing about him, however, suggests he's the type who, as he puts it, sits at a bar shouting showtunes. If not of his character's, it's his own personality that charms.
Music of legendary writers (Irving Berlin, Stephen Sondheim) is delicately at best woven into the plot. The numbers are entertaining, the voices silky, but the capricious script is frontrunner, often eliciting a laugh where you least expect.
The paralleled stages of life blend nicely into each other. Knowing that character "A’s" (the young man) hopes and dreams are not realized does nothing to affect our hope that this campaign-smile achieves his dancing dreams. It is a crafty trick, creating anticipation without withholding any information. Watching this young man rise to varying levels of consciousness may be sobering, but nowhere will it lower to trite nostalgia or rubber cement sentiments. A lighthearted hour, catchy ditties, and a little reality are reasons enough to visit Sheridan Square on a warm summer evening.
Reviewed on Saturday, June 5, 1999 (Opening night)
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Written and conceived by Phil Geoffrey Bond. Directed by Joseph Verlezza. Musical direction by Brett Kristofferson. Lighting and Sound by Kimo James. Additional material by Tim Cahill. Presented by the Langston County Players at the Duplex Cabaret Theatre, 61 Christopher Street (at Seventh Avenue). Performance schedule: Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 7:00 p.m. throughout the months of June and July. In honor of Gay Pride Week, a special performance will take place on Friday, June 25 at 8:00 p.m. Please note that there will be no performance on Sunday, June 27. Reservations ($10.00 plus a two-drink minimum) can be made by calling 212-255-5438.
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