REVIEW: “AND THEN I WROTE A SONG ABOUT IT” @ LUNA

Breaking into show business isn’t for the faint of heart. Given the myriad of obstacles faced by the character Randall Klausner in Eric Weinberger’s one-man musical, And Then I Wrote a Song about It, most people would give up and go to work in the family business.

But Randall is nothing if not an optimist with a capital O, an admirable trait that gets him through failed auditions, uncomfortable interrogations by his German-immigrant (and successful sausage importer) father and a variety of low-level jobs that barely pay the rent. Add to that his homosexuality—and the fact that this is the early 80s when gays stayed in the closet and AIDS is gaining a foothold in the gay community—and you have what could be a recipe for disaster. That Weinberger (and his composer Daniel S. Acquisto and lyricist Sammy Buck) and director Igor Goldin avoid bathos is a testament to his writing skill and a barometer of how far American society has come on such matters.

The song—or songs, to be precise—in question aren’t very good; they certainly won’t be included in the Great American Songbook or make the Top Forty. But they effectively chart the personal and professional journey taken by their composer Randall over the course of two years, from New Year’s Eve 1979 through New Year’s Eve 1981. And the fact that they are performed by the talented and vivacious Nick Cearley makes And Then I Wrote a Song about It a deliciously delightful piece of musical theater. Kudos go to Luna Stage for choosing to give it a World Première as the second production in their new home.

Cearley’s Randall calls himself a “professional optimist,” and he has to be one to get past the curve balls life throws at him. Tired of working at his father’s company’s office, he quits to pursue his career, taking a series of low-level (and sometimes short-lived) jobs to pay for rent and dance lessons. With his big, wide eyes and innocent look, Cearley conveys Randall’s extreme naivété about life; he doesn’t even know a that bank loan has to be repaid monthly! Too, he’s not only set his heart on making it in show biz, but he seeks love in the gay bars he goes to nightly, only to be disappointed when his “date” won’t stay for breakfast the next morning and doesn’t call for a second date. He’s not a very experienced performer either; he tells Chemical Bank loan officer Lydia Alvarez that he’s in an Advanced dance class when it’s really “Advanced Beginner,” and he blows an audition for A Chorus Line by almost falling off the stage.

But Randall/Cearley is masterful at impersonating the other characters in this play. He nails the buttoned-up, stiff-necked demeanor of his German father and the fussiness of his German mother. The former is embarrassed at first by his son’s sexual orientation; the latter frets over the goulash and schnitzel she’s slaved over all day. He’s hilarious as Lydia Alvarez with her Latina accent; his obnoxious New York therapist; his best friend, the toke-smoking Barry; and the “General,” the ex-Marine at NBC who uncharacteristically selects Randall to be his assistant (read: secretary) to complete the “cast” of this one-man musical.

Christian Imboden’s musical direction (and on keyboard), with Mike Winnicki on drums (alternating with Dave Anthony), provides excellent accompaniment to Cearley’s siging and Antoinette DiPietropolo’s nimble choreography recalls the disco eighties very well. Robert Monaco’s set provides a variety of locales, most effectively the runway down which Randall prances en route to his “performances.” Jill Nagle (lighting) and Hunter Kaczorowski (costumes) enhance the solid production values.

So will 1980 and 1981 be the “Happening Happy New Year,” of Randall’s song? Will he find his place in the world? Well, you have only one more weekend to get over to Luna Stage’s theater on Valley Road in West Orange to find out. The subject of Eric Weinberger’s And Then I Wrote a Song about It could be a bummer, but in his skillful playwrighting hands and with the masterful performance of Nick Cearley, optimism is the name of the tune. You might not remember the words of Randall’s songs well enough to hum ‘em after you leave the theater, but you will feel good long after the lights go down.

And Then I Wrote a Song about It will be performed Thursday at 7:30 PM, Friday and Saturday nights at 8 PM and Sunday at 2 PM through December 19 at Luna Stage, 555 Valley Road in West Orange. For information and tickets, call 973.395.5551 or visit http://www.lunastage.org/.