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On the Sweet Side
by Ellen Carpenter
Themepark Superstar reviewed November 22, 2004
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| John Flynn in Themepark Superstar |
| One-man shows are the bastard children of the theater world. With choice topics like cancer, divorce, stillborn babies, and the difficulties of dating when you are a 30-something Jewish woman, this is not surprising. My friends would rather stay home and watch America’s Next Top Model than accompany me to a solo performance. John Flynn, however, gives UPN reality shows a run for their money with his Themepark Superstar, a hilarious tell-all of his summer working as a musical performer at a "magical chocolate fantasty world," a.k.a., Hershey Park in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Already an alt-weekly darling thanks to 2002’s Dances with Pitchforks: Confessions of a Farm Boy, a musical comedy about his experience sharing a stage with Debbie Gibson and Betty Buckley in Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of Gypsy, Flynn has come to perfect the behind-the-scenes storytelling technique. Hearing about former pop divas and washed-up Broadway stars may sound juicier than hearing about themepark groupies and gay choreographers, but the subject matter does not really matter—Flynn simply tells a good story.
Of course, he does not do it all on his own. Flynn’s dozen or so characters are the stars of this production. There is Carlos, the flaming Puerto Rican chorus boy always looking for a hook-up; Timi, the anorexic girl who insists that a handful of grapes at lunch will give her enough energy to perform five shows a day; Alan, the hard-ass director who name-drops bygone Broadway performers like they are British royalty; and Beth, the innocent groupie who claims the Hershey performers (especially Flynn) are “like, better than Broadway good.” Flynn’s character work is flawless. So often with solo performances, the characters are muddled and undefined, but Flynn never leaves the audience members guessing whom he is portraying at any given moment.
Flynn himself is utterly appealing. He is vibrant and engaging and perkier than a high school cheerleader. When he says he arrives at Hershey Park as a “20-year-old heterosexual drama major” you laugh—uproariously. But when he says he finally feels like he can be himself and admit that he is gay, you smile and cannot help but look at him in an approving grandmotherly sort of way. He is just so darn likeable.
The only thing missing from this performance is the music. Flynn’s story is about his time working as a performer in the rock’n’roll show at Hershey Park, yet he never belts out a cheesy rock number. He only lip-syncs along with the recorded tape as he jazz-hands his way across the stage. His lip-syncing is amusing (and his dancing, alarmingly funny), but singing and dancing would take this production up a notch. He even bows out of singing along to the Madonna medley—his beloved Madonna—and focuses on the repetitive step-touch dance moves of “Like a Prayer.” Every now and then his rich tenor makes an appearance, but the two or three bars he croons are just a tease.
It is impossible to stay mad at him, though. With his perfectly paced production (kudos to Anthony King for his tight direction) Flynn keeps the audience amused even without a show-stopping pop number. His jokes are fresh; his characters, real; and his story—orgy scene aside—is oddly heartwarming. Solo performers: take note.
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Upright Citizens Brigade Theater
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Category: Solo Performance
Written by: John Flynn
Directed by: Anthony King
Produced by: Upright Citizens Brigade
Opened: November 15, 2004
Closed: December 27, 2004
Running Time: 45 minutes
Theater: Upright Citizens Brigade Theater
Address: 307 W 26th St
New York, NY 10001
Yahoo! Maps Directions
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Tickets: $5.00
not available
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Creative Team
Written by: John Flynn
Directed by: Anthony King
Cast
John Flynn
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