Well, The Uptown Players did just that!
From the moment that Morgana Shaw (Billie) appeared, we were in the palms of their collective hands.
Evan Fuller was born to be Straight Dave. By turns, ambitious, sexy, innocent, conflicted & honest. And what a voice!! By the time he sang For all of us & Positive Role Model -- I was reduced to tears.
Jason C Kane (Vic) & Coy Covington (Saunders) were definitely Gay men " of a certain age ", that I immediately recognized. And, as a Gay man of " a certain age ", I alternately sympathised with & disapproved of.
Both these guys did great jobs in their parts but, to digress, I was a bit confused about their physicality. Vic was a heavyset guy & Saunders was thin. I'd always pictured Saunders more in the mold of Tom " Fatty " Watson, which I think would have made the vulgar Sauna scene [ Call me Old Fashioned ] even more unpleasant. Still, Covington's Saunders was Crass with a capital C. And a thin Vic, who smokes " 60 a day " & snorts a lot of cocaine seems more on the money but big ole Kane made In Denial work, so I'm thrilled.
A secondary character } Saunders' Factotum Flynn (Mikey Abrams) was a Comic/ Tragic Goldmine. He did a magnificent job. He deftly, advanced the plot. And he was so Over the Top that Liza would've been intimidated.
Best of all the Performers was: Morgana Shaw as Billie Trix.
I never saw Frances Barber perform Billie but I'm certain that Ms Shaw is her Equal.
Such Stage Presence. Such Comic Timing. Such Pathos. Such ... Humanity !
My Night } BAM.
Caligula, Darling } BAM. BAM!
[ with props to Evan Fuller as Caligula
]Friendly Fire } BAM. BAM!! BAM!!!
Lee Jamison Wadley was a good if not great Shell. I liked her Nine out of Ten performance but was a little less impressed with her Out of my system. Clayton Younkin did his best but I found him wanting as the Bad Boy Dave desired. He tried but Lee is such a difficult part to play - both Street-Wise yet Innocent - that I'm afraid he was over his head, even though he gave it the old college try.
Speaking of Lee's character ~ I must also fault the Book.
IMO: Dave's " am I Straight or am I Gay " conflict gets short shrift in the first act, despite the Closer to Heaven reprise that ends Act 1. Unfortunately, not enough " Devil on the left shoulder (Lee) / Angel on the right (Shell) foreplay in Act 1 undercuts their clever In Denial reprise in Act 2.
The Book is also @ fault for the lame set-up of Vic confiscating Lee's delivery of Billie's massive drug order. If the stakes were really that high, I doubt the convenient resolution would've resulted in Lee's overdose.
All in all >> Please go see this production if you have the chance.
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