2016 Inner Voices Unveils a Trio of Mini-Masterpieces

One thing that aint in short supply in New York City is TALENT!!! even in all caps followed by three exclamation points. And TALENT!!! is blazing boldly until the end of October in a small theater on the third floor of semi-decrepit off-off-Broadway lo-rise where Premieres three outstanding one-act single-performer 30-minute operas will absolutely knock your socks off even if you dont have a MFA from Yale.

Inner Voices is a bi-annual series of solo musical works about regular people by a composer and writer who never worked together before. They create monologs in which the fictional narrator reveals the thoughts which rule the narrators mind and heart. This productions imaginative designers, arrangers, musicians and actors further the connection between the performers and the audience and let us not only know but also love every person on stage. Great credit is due for the first-rate behind the scenes contributions: Alan Fildermans impeccable casting, ditto for Reid Thompsons sets, M. Meriwether Snipes costumes, Oliver Wasons lighting and Walter Trarbachs sound design. As for the directors, three cheers for Brad Rouse, Margot Bordelon and Saheem Ali. Great work, you guys.

In Just One Q, T. Oliver Reid is Benny, a male orderly-narrator who works in the Broadbend Nursing Home, and also portrays Bertha and Julynne, two old white women playing Scrabble, who both earned black belts in bullyin and beratin. Bertha, the late Cotton Greenes legal wife, bore him eleven children before, fed up with his womanizing, she seared his back with a blazing hot iron, loaded their kids and possessions in his truck and took off for California. She has now come home to die. Julynne, the owner of the nursing home as well as Cotton Greenes long-time inamorata, is the woman to whom he ran after Bertha burned him. He called Julynne his queen and lived with until the day he died. The Scrabble game Bertha and Julynne are playing may determine who will to spend eternity as Cottons Greenes eternal Queen in the half empty burial plot in which he now rests in peace. Reid, an award-winning Cabaret star with Broadway credits, was astounding in his three pronged characterizations so there was never any doubt in my mind which one was speaking. I found the words and music equally important and balanced. Ellen Fitzhughs libretto was touching, funny and clever. Ted Shens minor key score was languidly sultry and sexy like early Twentieth Century Southern White Blues where Gershwins wailing klezmer clarinet doinas, Eric Saties moody Gymnopedies and Hoagy Carmicheals languor each held their own and set a perfect mood.

The Pen with Daniel Collins words and Julianne Wick Daviss music is a staccato tour de force depicting the usual frantic morning endured by Nancy Andersons Laura, a woman afflicted by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Laura was so miraculously brought to life by this versatile Cabaret/Broadway actor/songstress that she gave me psychosomatic hives. She was always in the throes of unreasonable, competing, pervasive fears which forced her to perform compulsive repetitious acts like donning rubber gloves, double-disinfecting her possessions, triple checking her appliances, etc. etc. Whew! Finally ready to leave for work, she reaches into her handbag for her keys and her ungloved fingers pick up an unfamiliar pen with teeth marks on it! Arggghhhh!!!! What to do? Spray away, recheck appliances, etc. etc. until shes emotionally fortified enough to put the pen in a container and leave for work late, as usual. Julianne Wick Daviss rhythmic music was properly frenzied as were Daniel Collins hectic words, but the play belonged to the lady with the Lysol, spraying everything in sight. I couldnt take my eyes or ears off Nancy Anderson, who thanks to Margot Bordelons four-star direction delivered a five-star performance.

The Booty Call is a one-man show with music and words by Michael Thurber who also stars as Gabe, a musician cutting a demo in his apartment when he receives a voicemail from a young woman he met the night before and really liked, inviting him over for dinner, which he interprets as an I dont want to sleep alone tonight Booty call. Instead of rushing over, he muses about his past experiences with love and intimacy, describes himself as a serial monogamist who recently broke up with his ex, hasnt resolved his feelings about her but is very uncomfortable hooking up with women he just met for sex. Do these seldom observed reflections by a hip man in his late 20s living the single life in New York City explain why 30% of the unmarried singles now report they are no longer having sex? Maybe they do. I dont remember the electronic music. What I brought home was Gabes honesty about his dissatisfaction with loveless sex. It was a pleasure to hear.

Inner Voices will be performed until October 29th, 2016 at the TBG Theater at 312 W. 36th Street, Monday through Friday at 8pm and Saturday at 3pm & 8pm. Tickets are $39 and are available online at www.PremieresNYC.org or by calling OvationTix at 866-811-4111 and at The TBG Theatre box office one hour before performance time.