It's Not a Comeback, It's a RETURN

Hello, friends!  Have you missed me?  (You don't need to answer that if you don't want to!)  Oh my, what a year it has been - I think a pandemic roundup post will be in order eventually, but today I'm thrilled to report I was back in a theater!  Well, outside a theater, on a NYC street, to be precise.  But a group of intrepid souls shared a space to enjoy a new play, Oso Fabuloso and the Bear Backs, by the amazing C. Julian Jimenez.  Coincidentally, the last official play I saw before the shutdown was also by Julian, the incredible Bundle of Sticks.  So it only seemed fitting to restart my theater life with his work.- I'm a huge fan of Julian and his writing, so I guess you can take everything I say with the usual grain of salt. I'm clearly predisposed to have enjoyed myself.  Especially since I got to see it with a terrifically-handsome chum.

OK, I'll be honest - my brain isn't firing on all cylinders and it's hard to write anything coherent.  Plus, working in my home 'office' has certainly lost its appeal (as has my laptop keyboard).  I also can't remember how to format my blog anymore, so...this will likely be a literal mess in more ways than one.  Much like how life has been over the last fifteen months.  But I digress. As usual.

Oso Fabuloso and the Bear Backs is a terrifically audacious musical play, with book and lyrics by Julian and music by PK Variance.  Julian also stars in the title role.  The show is set up as a therapy session for Oso Fabuloso, a charismatic bear who just went through a messy breakup.  Variance is the lead guitarist and also lends deadpan charm as Oso's therapist.  For about 80 minutes, we're treated to a rock concert/therapy session that is funny, thought-provoking, authentic, toe-tapping, and gloriously queer.  I had a great time and it was a perfect show for Pride weekend..  

photo credit: Sylvester Finch

Our performance time was 5:30pm, so it was steamy and sunny and I don't think I got the full set/lighting experience (but, boy am I grateful I took a hat in case of rain!), but the simple set/concert stage on West 52nd Street was fun and effective.  There was a charming set piece that made me smile every time it was used.  The band was rocking and the two backup singers (Joseph Distl and Vasilos Leon) were a delight.  But the show belongs to Julian.  His writing is always exciting to me but I had no idea what an exciting performer he is, too!  His storytelling skills were everywhere, on the page and on the stage.  His song lyrics were terrific and I hope there are more musicals in his (and therefore my) future.  And his performance had me in the palm of his hand - I can envision a whole series of works starring Oso Fabuloso and I would be there for all of them.  The songs were catchy and the delight everyone had in presenting them was contagious.  The audience was also raucous and engaged and a great time was had by all.  It was the perfect first night back in the theater for me!  

I'm still feeling a little cautious about indoor groupings, but I have a concert booked for early in July and tickets to the Broadway premiere of Pass Over (I saw it Off-Broadway a few years ago - here are my thoughts from that incredible evening.)  I can't imagine seeing as much theater as I did before, at least not at first.  But I am ready to be gobsmacked again and again by exciting theater minds.  I want to enter worlds I've never entered before; I want to see work by writers I've never heard of.  I long for normalcy, but not on stage.  We'll just have to see if the longings will be fulfilled.