HAPPY BLUEBALLS, YOUR LIFE IS WAITING!
Manifest Theatre Company
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When we first see Happy Blueballs (Mark Howard Sutton) he’s bouncing around what may be his mother’s womb, or perhaps some other special room just down the hallway (so to speak). The room is white, with a cutout of a woman’s belly silhouetted against the backdrop, and next to it is an entrance camouflaged as labia. Then Leonard (Jim Carrane) arrives on the scene, in a middle-management suit a shade too small for him. “Corporate” has sent him to prep Happy Blueballs for the next great step: life. Eight committee members are in line to test Happy, and it’s Leonard’s job to steer him through. One by one the committee is revealed, and each member symbolizes one of life’s little hang-ups, passions, or curve balls: Animal Instinct, Unqualified Love, Lust, Morality, Self-Doubt, and Insanity, among others. Each gives Happy a piece of clothing (he starts out in nothing but boxer shorts) until he’s fully dressed.
Don’t expect great things on the rock-operetta side. Though some of the singing is strong, sometimes it just barely scrapes by. There is some decent electric guitar and some pretty fine piano, courtesy of Adler himself, but his score is not exactly memorable. The performances carry Happy Blueballs. Sutton resists the temptation to play Happy as a cipher, giving him an adventurous spirit. Watching Carrane vogue with Kate Flannery should lay to rest any doubt that he doesn’t need to say a word to be funny. Lennon balancing her entire body on her chin is almost worth the price of admission. The performances don’t feature much polished technique, but there’s a lot of raw energy headed in the right direction. Happy Blueballs is messy but engaging. And, one can’t help but think, life-affirming.
