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The Day the World Went Queer!

nytheatre.com review by John Samuel Jordan
August 15, 2005

The Day The World Went QUEER! is most definitely what FringeNYC is all about. According to Elena K. Holy, Producing Artistic Director of the Present Company, FringeNYC is a “celebration of the best emerging theatre companies and performing artists in the world.” Moral Decay, Inc. (QUEER!’s producer) is just that. This musical, even though slightly flawed, is fantastic.In a nutshell, the citizens of small-town Sanctityville, USA, decide to legalize same-sex marriage to allow the new and very well-liked gay couple in town to get married. Along with a third “friend of Dorothy,” this dastardly trio of gays then begin their plot to turn the whole town gay. (Why, I’m not sure, but it’s a great way to satirize the current and highly controversial hot topic regarding same-sex marriage, so who cares?) The Sandford family is the first target. Grant, the dad, starts wearing buttless, leather chaps and hanging out in the backroom of the Elks' Lodge. His wife Harriet gets a new haircut and turns from a super-scary Stepford wife into a flannel-wearin’, beer-guzzlin’ biker. Their son Bill returns home from college and with the help of his sweetheart, Susan (together, they're billed as the “hetero heroes”), begin to fight the gays to save the day.Act One is flawless. The performances, direction, choreography... everything flows perfectly. Richard Todd Adams (Grant) and Jennifer Dorr White (Harriet) dive right into their roles and effortlessly share their well-crafted talent with the audience. White, even though vocally shaky with a few of her solos, pretty much steals the show with her dead-on comic timing and overall commitment, while Adams must be given props for his hilarious performance of “Nobody Wants a Daddy” in Act Two.Also in the cast are Douglas Ullman, Jr., Marisa Michelson, Eric Moore, Jonathan Hack, and Rachel Clark, who give consummate performances as well. Moore’s presentation of “The Boy Inside” is both heartwarming and fun, as he ponders his lust for the boy next door.The direction by Jonathan Matthew Gilbert (he also wrote the book) is right on the mark throughout. Musical direction by John Andrew Tarbet must have been pretty darn good because they all sound great. The choreography by Brad Broman is standard musical staging. Costumes by Sara Jablon are the obvious choices (though I’m not sure Sandford’s chaps are the correct size). Lighting design by Cris Dopher is Fringe-tastic.The lyrics by Joshua H. Cohen, overall, are very witty, and the music by Lavell V. Blackwell complements them rather well, interspersed at times with hysterical dance tracks, thanks to David Mallamud.My only problem with this production is the weak and easy conclusion, or perhaps I should say lack of conclusion. Things seem to get tied up, without anything really happening or changing. Perhaps I was just caught up in the whole escapism aspect of the Fringe and missed it. Regardless, I left the place humming. What more can you ask from a musical?