Review - "The Love Song of Sidney J. Stein"

By Byrne Harrison
Photos by Mary Ellen Nelligar

Sidney Stein (Jim Pillmeier), the title character in Brian C. Petti's "The Love Song of Sidney J. Stein," is a man with a mission.  After a youth spent "in the life," Sidney is spending his adulthood working at a shelter for street kids, many of them LGBT youth who, like him, have been forced to sell their bodies to live.

Sidney's is a quiet existence, his meager salary supplemented by an inheritance from his mother.  He doesn't even seem to realize just how lonely he is until a teenaged hustler named Dennis (Dalton Gray) comes into his life.

Dennis is handsome and used to charming whatever he wants from men.  Sidney is wise to his tricks, having used them on men himself when he was Dennis' age.  As he and Dennis get to know each other at the shelter, they begin a cat and mouse game, each wanting something from the other --Dennis wanting money and drugs, Sidney wanting an escape for Dennis from the dangerous road he's walking.

Sidney becomes a surrogate parent to Dennis, eventually inviting him to stay with him at his home.  Under Sidney's guidance, Dennis seems earnestly to want to leave the street behind him.  And despite numerous disappointments and episodes of backsliding, Sidney desperately wants to believe that he will save Dennis, and that he will redeem his life the same way Sidney did.

But redemption, when it comes, has a very high price.

There is a lot to like in this production, starting with the cast.  Pillmeier's Sidney is in many ways fragile and damaged, and uses an arch, campy facade to keep the world at arm's length.  Gray's Dennis has a feral charm, and is a master at playing his cards close to the vest.  Since Petti has scenes which show a slightly older, more mature Dennis and a young, hustler version of Sidney, both actors have a chance to stretch a little and show completely different versions of their characters.

Petti's play is interesting in that it is comprised of a series of short, not always sequential scenes.  They jump through time to give insights into the characters and the action in "present time."  It's an unusual technique, but one that works well.

Unfortunately, these short scenes also serve to give the play a somewhat rushed feel, one that is exacerbated on several occasions by Pillmeier's delivery.  At times Sidney's dialogue comes so quickly, that it seems to be somewhat independent of the scene.  It feels that it's less about responding to what has been said, and more about getting the line out as quickly as possible (one particular scene had Sidney on the phone chatting with his sister with pauses so short that she would have been unlikely to have said more than a word or two).

His speedy delivery, however, works well when Sidney is highly emotional--a scene when Sidney is hysterical after a particularly monumental betrayal by Dennis is an excellent example.  During that scene, Pillmeier speaks so quickly that he is forced to take gulping breaths; it is perfect for what Sidney is going through, a moment of panic so absolute that he could barely remember to breathe.

Made up, as it is, of a number of short, not always chronologically sequential scenes, the play has a number of scene and costume changes.  These are not always smooth, and often take longer than they need to.  Both the awkward scene changes and the generally rushed pacing seems to indicate a certain hesitancy on the part of Brian Petti as director of the production.  His writing is solid, but this piece feels like it needs a director with a surer touch.

Part of this may simply due to the vagaries of being in a festival, and I would welcome the chance to see Petti direct again in the future, or to see a non-festival production of "The Love Song of Sidney J. Stein."


"The Love Song of Sidney J. Stein"
Written and directed by Brian C. Petti
Featuring: Jim Pillmeier and Dalton Gray

Produced as part of All Out Arts' Fresh Fruit Festival

Review - Man Boobs (Three Monos Ensemble and the Fresh Fruit Festival)

Review by Byrne Harrison

Playwright J. Julian Christopher doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the issue of body image in his play Man Boobs, currently being produced as part of the 8th Annual Fresh Fruit Festival. Spence (Jeffrey Marx) has a lot going for him. He's a curator at a library, well-read and well-spoken. He has a handsome man, Marty (Robert Valin), actively pursuing him, not just for sex, but possibly for something a little deeper. But no matter what he has or is being offered, he can't see himself in a positive light. Spence is very overweight and is suffering from crippling self-esteem issues.

Where Marty sees a handsome and sensitive man, Spence sees only man boobs. He views himself as a punchline in some sort of cosmic joke and sabotages his relationships by waiting for the other shoe (imaginary though it may be) to drop.

Thrown by Marty's request that they spend the night at Spence's apartment (they've mostly had a series of semi-public trysts to this point), Spence's unease about getting physical with Marty seems to be based more on this invasion of his space, but as Marty cajoles and Spence demurs, the real issue comes to light. Spence's refusal to take off his shirt, and what happens when he finally does, brings everything to light - his self-loathing, inherent suspicion of anyone who finds him attractive, and various humiliations from his childhood.

Can he overcome this for a truly open and non-judgmental man? Well, let's not give away too much.

Christopher's play is mostly well written, though I don't think there is enough of an attempt to give each character his own voice. Considering the differences in their backgrounds, truck driving, working class Marty often sounds quite a bit like white-collar bibliophile Spence. More distinctive voices would highlight those times when their roles reverse, Marty showing his surprising depth and empathy while Spence becomes almost monosyllabic in his shame and self-hatred.

Robert Valin is terrific as the horny and jovial Marty. He is especially effective during his heartbreaking attempts to break through Spence's reserve and suspicion, and during a great scene where he catches a glimpse of himself through Spence's eyes. As Spence, Jeffrey Marx is good, though he seems to have issues with his timing, often pausing before speaking in a way that slows down the scenes (and undercuts the emotion of the particularly fraught moments) and seeming at times to bobble his lines. In fairness, this is not uncommon in festivals due to the short rehearsal times involved. All this said, Marx does an amazing job during Spence's breakdown after removing his shirt. His performance at that moment is raw and moving.

Though this production is in need of a stronger touch by director Web Bogole, there is a lot to recommend it and Christopher's script.

Man Boobs
Written by J. Julian Christopher
Directed by Web Begole
Producer: Kristen Luciani
Lighting Design: Sheila Donovan
Set Design: Web Begole, J. Julian Christopher
Sound Design: J. Julian Christopher
Stage/Light Crew: J. Julian Christopher, Sheila Donovan, Richard Ponce
Postcard Design: J. Julian Christopher

Featuring: Jeffrey Marx (Spence) and Robert Valin (Marty)

Cherry Lane Studio Theater
38 Commerce Street

Closed July 24th