![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/A-Man-of-No-Importance_042-scaled-e1747250458877.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo by Craig Schwartz, as is the one at the top of this review.<\/p><\/div>\n
Since I\u2019m always honest with you, I must say that I had no idea that this show is a musical<\/em>! I actually had a choice of a few presentations to see that night, and I chose this one because A) it\u2019s adapted from the original screenplay by prolific playwright Terrence McNally, of whose work I\u2019m often a fan, (he\u2019s won Tonys for Master Class <\/em>and Ragtime<\/em>, among others,) and B) when I saw mention of musicians on the invitation, I erroneously assumed it\u2019s a play with a bit of auxiliary<\/em> music, which is always interesting. So the songs<\/em> were a very pleasant surprise!<\/p>\n The story takes place in Dublin, Ireland in 1964, where a man who takes tickets on the bus during the day runs a beyond-amateur theatre company in a local church in the evenings. Being a bus conductor is his livelihood, but theatre is his raison d’\u00eatre. And this time, they\u2019re preparing Oscar Wilde\u2019s controversial 1890s tragedy, Salome<\/em>.<\/p>\n Photo by Craig Schwartz.<\/p><\/div>\n A Man of No Importance<\/em>, (the title of which I\u2019m assuming is a nod to Wilde\u2019s A Woman of No Importance<\/em>,) is mostly a comedy, with both amusing and poignant songs, but there\u2019s also a very serious aspect to the tale. I hate to ruin it for those of you who like to discover the plot of a show for yourselves, but it\u2019s an important part of the narrative, so I must discuss it a bit. I have to admit that I did not see it coming, although just about everyone else in the opening night audience did. I guess my \u201cgaydar\u201d is not as sharp as I had thought because the closeted sexuality part of the story was a surprise to me. But I should have had a clue when the ghost of Oscar Wilde appeared! Or just knowing that McNally wrote it.\u00a0Perhaps, just like what they sing about in one of my favorite musicals, Legally Blonde<\/em>, I had thought that the lead character was just European, rather than gay.<\/p>\n On that<\/em> subject, I must observe that no matter how far advanced society has come in sooo many ways, it boggles my mind that there\u2019s still so much homophobia in the world.\u00a0 So it\u2019s not exactly shocking to see it portrayed in a story that takes place in the \u201960s, (although hatred of homosexuals being featured in a musical,<\/em> of all the arts, is a tad ironic, don\u2019t ya think?) [Note: It reminded me of this in real life: At my mother\u2019s funeral a few years ago, one of her former high school students from the \u201980s, who is gay, spoke about how my mother was the only person who had accepted and loved him back then. And they stayed friends forever after. (I\u2019m crying just writing about it.)]<\/p>\n Kasey Mahaffy and CJ Eldred. Photo by Craig Schwartz.<\/p><\/div>\n The entire cast of A Man of No Importance<\/em> is excellent, but I was especially happy to see two of the actors again. I had given both Kasey Mahaffy and CJ Eldred very deserved excellent reviews in previous productions, and that\u2019s still the case here, even though these are very different roles for them than the ones I\u2019ve appreciated in the past.\u00a0I\u2019ve been a Kasey fan since 2018\u2019s Noises Off\u00a0<\/em> at this theatre. He was absolutely hilarious in that one, and now in A Man of No Importance<\/em> his humor is even surpassed by his heartbreaking performance in the second half. (Make sure you bring tissues.)<\/p>\n And I was very happy to see CJ Eldred again, and not just because of his beautiful singing voice. One of the lines about his character is, “He’s a looker,\u201d a real-life assessment with which the entire audience agreed. First of all, I love a man with great posture, especially a tall guy. And to see him stripped-down in one scene is worth the price of\u00a0admission alone. (Yes, I am<\/em> a tad shallow.) But most importantly, CJ himself is an adorable person<\/em>. We chatted a bit at the Opening Night reception, and I was happy to discover that he\u2019s as lovely as I had hoped.<\/p>\n On the distaff side, Juliana Sloan, as Alfie\u2019s maiden sister, has the best singing voice of the group; it\u2019s gorgeous.<\/p>\n Kasey Mahaffy and Juliana Sloan. Photo by Craig Schwartz.<\/p><\/div>\n And I was so pleased that all<\/em> the actors manage to do good Irish accents while still being understood\u2014that\u2019s a major achievement unto itself! (I had to watch The Banshees of Inisherin<\/em>\u00a0with captions<\/em> to know what the characters were saying, and I still<\/em>\u00a0didn\u2019t understand it!)<\/p>\n That also means that all the fabulous lyrics<\/em> are clear. The duet Books<\/em>, (pronounced in the Irish dialect as \u201cboo-ks,\u201d) is amusing and adorable, as is the ensemble paean to beginning work on their next show, Going Up<\/em>.<\/p>\n The quintet of musicians is off to one side in the back of the stage. In addition to the actual ditties, the interstitial Irish type of music is special.<\/p>\n David Nevell in the center. With a baker\u2019s dozen actors, the production took some clever staging. Even when the characters are sitting in a circle, they can be seen from all<\/em> seats, which is a testament to said staging. And to the stage itself, actually.<\/p>\n Being that Terrance McNally wrote the script, there are, of course, many very clever lines in A Man of No Importance<\/em>. My favorite of the entire show happens at a pub when one of the men explains to the newcomer, \u201cWe sing here; we\u2019re Irish, we’re drunk\u2014what else are we going to do?” What a great line!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
Photo by Craig Schwartz.<\/p><\/div>\n