Playwright: Steve Schalchlin
and Jim Brochu
At: Theatre Building, 1225 W. Belmont
Phone: (773) 327-5252; $25
Runs through: March 28
If Ethel Merman shouted at the beginning of Big Voice, 'Curtain up! Light the lights! We've gotten nothing to hit but the heights!' audience members might have been disappointed. They might have doubted that 'everything' was 'coming up roses.' Or even daffodils.
No curtain comes up here. The lights that are lit are simple ('house down, stage up, occasional swirling disco ball,' might be the extent of lighting designer Tina Salomone's directions). And for a musical about Ethel Merman, two fiftyish gay men's love for one another, a fascination with show business and its possible relationship to the pomp and circumstance of organized religion, Big Voice comes down decidedly on the minimalist side. The two creators/slash performers, Steve Schalchlin and Jim Brochu, arrive on stage in pants and casual shirts. The set consists of a table, two chairs, and an electric piano. What is this? I wondered. Some sort of vaudeville? A staged reading? A try out?
Refreshingly, I had it all wrong (yes, critics are sometimes wrong). This autobiographical story, tweaked with high camp, big laughs, astonishing original music that ranges from heart-rending ballads to slick musical theater to gospel-infused to rock, shattered my expectations and won me over with first a chuckle, then a guffaw, then tears as Steve and Jim take us on the journey of their lives.
With warmth, poignancy, a great deal of charm, and a lot of self-effacing humor, these committed, talented men (never mind gay) bring their audience along on a stellar ride. Starting with a childhood fascination for theater and music and being trapped in the confines of organized religion (one Roman Catholic, the other Southern Baptist), the pair chronicle their meeting as young men aboard a cruise ship, their domestic highs and lows, their familial relationships, their theatrical triumphs ... and more importantly, their personal triumphs (surviving AIDS and a serious break in the foundation of their relationship).
Brochu and Schalchlin are very talented men and The Big Voice succeeds in spite of its minimalist trappings. This duo doesn't need them. Their infectious humor and their abilities to shine a spotlight on their personal and professional lives supersede any need for sets or props. The lack of these things make their characters and their story sparkle all the more brightly.