Raise your hand if you remember Anita Bryant! That Anita
Bryant; the one that pushed Florida orange juice, came in second in The 1959 Miss
America Beauty (“A Pretty Girl Is Like A Memory”) pageant losing out to Mary
Ann Mobley and wore her anti-gay stripes on her sleeve for the whole world to
see, hear and react.
OK, not so much?
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| Sam Heldt and Allison Spratt Pearce |
Join the cast and crew of Diversionary Theatre in University
Heights for the brand spanking new musical story, “The Loneliest Girl In The
World” by Gordon Leary (book and lyrics) and Julia Meinwald (music) and
directed by over the moon thrilled director Matt M. Morrow through July1st and
learn probably more than you ever needed or wanted to know about the bible
thumping, no holds barred one woman crusader that railed against homosexuals
and homosexuality.
The all out wonderful cast in “L.G.I.T.W. stars Allison
Spratt Pearce as Anita, Sean Tuazon, Lauren King Thompson, Steve Gouveia, Sam
Heldt, and Marci Ann Wuebben (all except
Spratt Pearce and Heldt play multiple roles).
The production is staged on Robin Sanford Roberts’ cartoon
looking set with TV’s lining the back-walls, some reminiscent of the TV show
“Laugh In” (highlighted by Christopher J. Martin’s lighting design) with
characters peeking through open window/doors.
Those whose faces we saw included (Billy Graham, Bob Hope,
Pat Boone, Lawrence Welk and Kathy Lee then Johnson). They are wearing cardboard
cutout hairstyles to define and on occasion.
Full body cardboard props (Bonnie Durben) are used (very
clever touch) on other occasions, as when Gouveia (who also plays Anita’s
husband Bob) is emcee of the pageant and Tauzon is one of the contestants and
all we see are their faces through the cutout of the full sized body boards
they carry.
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| Sam Heldt |
At the same time she became an outspoken opponent of gay
rights ‘and ran the Save Our Children campaign to repeal a local ordinance to
prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.’ It was the beginning
of the end for her.
While he made history with his pie in face incident and went
on with his life, his story in her life is pretty much fictional. It’s a clever
beginning to get us hooked as in hook, line and sinker.
On one track the rise and fall of Bryant dressed in Elisa
Benzoni’s get up’s and in Peter Herman’s wigs plays out in all its glory. Most
of her career as shown in backstory, is no mystery.
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| Allison Spratt Pearce |
She recorded over 40 top hits in the late 50’s early 60’s
with her most memorable “Paper Roses” reaching # 5 on the charts. Her
ambassadorship with the Florida Citrus Commission lasted well over ten years
and Good Housekeeping Magazine declared her one of the most influential Women
in America. But then…
Ms. Pearce, one of the most versitile of San Diego performers, having appeared in "The Last Wife" and "My Fair Lady" at Cygnet Theatre and her award winning performance as Maria in "The Sound of Music" shows off her acting chops as "The Lonliest Girl In The world".
That pie in the face incident that made
the headlines from coast to coast segues from her losing the Miss America Pageant to a very young and impressionable
Tommy and his mother (Wuebben) baking together.
Tommy’s obsession with Bryant begins to take form with
letters to and letters from convincing Tommy that she really appreciates his
being a fan. Tommy is a closet gay, but after months of trying to hide it from
his doting mother he finds himself at Kyle’s apartment (Shaun Tauzon) and the
two begin a relationship.
Heldt’s performance moves from skinny and shy boy to mature
and purposeful adult. His growth to adulthood is a tribute to Leary’s book and
he does it with ease. While the two protagonists it seems were destined to come
across each other at some point and the splintering off of their personalities
and differing paths taken, is a beshert moment.
For a brand new musical, right out of the chute and after many
years of work shopping, it hit the stage at Diversionary full force. With the
beautifully nuanced voice of Allison Sprat Pearce making her way through some
very difficult and oft times non melodic music the show flows easily through
her rise and fall from fame paralleling Tommy’s coming of age and importance on
the world stage.
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| Allison Spratt Pearce and Steve Gouveia |
Fine work comes from Lauren King Thompson who plays Bryant’s
sister Kay and a bevy of other characters. She’s a standout comedian with
excellent timing and a perfect stage presence showing up when least expected.
The rest of the first-rate cast, left to their own devices and
under Morrows direction shine in waves of glory at telling both stories along
the parallel lines.
Musical director Patrick Marion with Matt Lescaul-Wood’s
sound and choreographer Stephen Brotebeck capitalize on Meinwald’s musical
score to its advantage with no less than 20 musical numbers in all. (Some could
be cut or shortened thereby shortening the running time that was well over two hours )
As a sidebar in 2018 it was recently announced that the
United States Supreme Court sided with a baker in Colorado who refused to bake
a wedding cake for a same sex couple sighting ‘First Amendment Rights’: Quoting
that ‘Same Sex marriage was at odds with his religious beliefs.’ Looks like we’re
headed in the wrong direction once again.
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| Allison Spratt Pearce |
But maybe not, though when creative juices are at work and
theatre’s like Diversionary can count on their audiences to support new works
and spread the word and show the world, including the narrow minded that it still
takes all members of society to make it whole.
Congratulations and Happy Pride Week!
See you at the theatre.
Dates: Through July 1st
Organization: Diversionary Theatre
Phone: 619-220-0097
Production Type: Musical
Where: 4545 Park Blvd. #101 San Diego, CA 92116
Ticket Prices: $15.00-$55.00
Web: diversionary.org
Photo: Simpatika
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