All
This, And Heaven Too is an
entertaining look at gay life over 40
viewed through a musical comedy lens.
As the production’s soft shoe opener
“Trolls” (the show's original
off-Broadway title) proclaims, gay men
past a certain age are considered “mean
and crabby, soft and flabby.” As All
This, And Heaven Too reveals, they also
have a zest for life, and more of an
appreciation for the freedoms and the
greater acceptance society has granted
them post-Stonewall than “those little
twits who don’t even know who Ethel
Merman was.”On a spring afternoon in
1986, close friends Terry, Juan,
Phillip, and Michael have gathered in
Terry’s West Hollywood living room to
celebrate the life of Boomie, Michael’s
recently deceased partner of 12 years.
They are soon joined by post-op
transsexual Jo, whom Boomie had
encouraged to spread her female wings,
and by twenty-something “I’m not for
sale anymore” Blane, whom Boomie had
befriended after picking him up on Santa
Monica Boulevard and spending the night
with him … just talking. A later
arrival is Myrna, Boomie’s estranged
sister, who feels justified in demanding
Boomie’s photo album and other
possessions because (she insists) she is
his family. Not so, protests Michael,
who spent a dozen years with Boomie
"traveling through Europe, at parties,
and getting old together." Boomie’s
real family, he insists, are the friends
who were by his side through the years
after Myrna disowned him.
The cast of All This, And Heaven Too
is a sterling one, headed by
Tony-winning Broadway legend Sammy
Williams (the original Paul in A Chorus
Line) as the still boyish Terry, Charles
Herrera earning many laughs as
south-of-the-border born Juan, silver
fox Steven Conner as Michael, and
understudy Daniel Guzman (The King in
MTW’s The King and I) as “I’m only 42,
not 43” Phillip. Each is a gifted
triple threat bringing to his role years
of trodding the boards in regional
theater. Chase McCown is a cute and
sexy Blane, and Katharine Devlin is
suitably snooty as Myrna. Boomie's
ghost even drops by, well played and
sung by musical theater vet James
Warnock. Finally, there is the Fabulous
(with a capital F) Jo, who changes her
dazzling gowns and wigs perhaps a dozen
times over the course of the show's 90
or so minutes, brought to hilarious life
by understudy Patricia Harrison.
(Interestingly, the role is usually
played by a male actor in drag.)
All This, And Heaven Too is at its
best when the gang are singing Dick
DeBenedictis and Bill Dyer’s songs,
whether accompanied by flashing lights
and a disco mirror ball, or touchingly
advising Blane to “remember your
legacy.” “Gay Caballeros,” sung by
Carmen Miranda-garbed Juan backed by the
rest of the gang, is a special treat,
featuring such lyrics as “We’re not gay,
we’re doing things the Latin way,” and
“In Mexico they’re not gay, it’s just
tequila that keeps them that way.”
“Back in the Good Old Days” is a
vaudeville-style show-stopper performed
by Michael and Terry complete with canes
(though minus top hats). “Back in the
dark ages,” they sing, “we dared not
speak its name. We figured out pronto,
the Lone Ranger and Tonto.” (A live
band would give the show greater
immediacy than the prerecorded
background tracks.)
Director/choreographer Kevin Carlisle
has brought his decades of experience to
All This, And Heaven Too. (If the name
sounds familiar, Carlisle’s work
stretches back to 50s/60s TV variety
shows, includes a Tony nomination for
choreographing Hallelujah Baby, and an
Emmy award.) Danny Truxaw’s set and
lighting design are top notch as are the
uncredited costumes, especially Jo’s
many gowns (which include a Swiss Miss
frock she once wore in the
“all-transgender Mexican version of The
Sound of Music”). Dyer’s book contains
many amusing references to Bette Davis,
Betty Grable, and other 40s/50s gay
icons, and funny lines like “I’m not the
first queen to lose her head over a
basket.” If only the characters had
been more fully developed (as were
Terrence McNally's in Love! Valour!
Compassion!), the show would rate an A+.
(Disapproving sister Myrna takes only
a dozen or so minutes (and a song) to
come around the guys’ side.)
Still, thanks to its talented cast,
its enjoyable songs, and its focus on a
gay demographic too often overlooked by
the media, All This, And Heaven Too is a
fun and funny evening of musical
theater, and for my money, just to see
Sammy Williams on stage is worth the
price of admission.
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