“A Man of No importance,” with book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, is a lighthearted but layered work, referencing the Bible, Oscar Wilde, Greek drama, modern drama, religious intolerance, sexual identity and self-realization. If not carefully handled, any one of those elements will take over the production and sink it.
Happily, that doesn’t happen in the current Keegan Theatre production of the musical, directed intelligently by Christina Coakley and Mark Rhea, who make sure that that all those disparate elements pull together, not apart.
The musical is set in working-class Dublin, 1964. Alfie Byrne (Buzz Mauro) is a bus conductor and head of an amateur theater troupe based in St. Imelda’s Church. Alfie, who reads Wilde’s poetry to his passengers, wants to put on a production of Wilde’s “Salome,” inspired by the Biblical story of the woman who performed the risque Dance of the Seven Veils.
The church objects, on the grounds that it’s improper to stage anything based on the Bible. But Alfie persists in his dream and tries to cast his passengers and his driver, Robbie (John Robert Keena), in “Salome.” For Salome, he chooses the beautiful Adele Rice (Madeline Botteri), believing that she is not only the heroine of his drama, but also the woman he loves.
Several subplots weave together to create “Man,” but Coakley and Rhea keep the action moving swiftly so that the longish production doesn’t drag. Choreographer Kurt Boehm has designed a snappy, presentational “show within a show.” The actors carry chairs to create two rows of seats to represent the bus; they place the same chairs in a circle when it’s time for the first reading of “Salome.”
The cast of “A Man of No Importance” is exceptional. Seventeen singers, dancers and actors primarily appear in funny character parts. The three actors cast in more serious dramatic roles (Mauro, Botteri and Keena) provide touching, credible investigations of love and desire. Harv Lester as Carney/Wilde and Kristen Jepperson as Alfie’s sister, Lily, are particularly noteworthy.
If you go
‘A Man of No Importance’
Where: Keegan Theatre, Church Street Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW
When: 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday; through July 11
Info: $30 to $35; 703-892-0202; keegantheatre.com
The music for “A Man of No Importance” pulls from as many sources as its book does. Much of it is lively, like “Going Up,” a hymn to theater. Many numbers having a decidedly Irish sound. Some of the songs are lyrical, mournful or contemplative, like the haunting “Man in the Mirror” and “Love Who You Love.” And some, like “Books,” which examines the dangerous effects of literature, are pure fun. “A Man of No Importance” is not without sentimentality: There is an older, unmarried sister caring for her brother and an unwed mother bravely insisting on surviving alone. But those deliberate moments are reminders that Alfie’s world is made up of unpretentious, unsophisticated people.
As he channels Wilde, Alfie carries out a continual balancing act: The hilarity of putting on a play is contrasted with the seriousness of coming to terms with his sexuality. The Keegan Theatre production neatly captures Alfie’s fears and passions, his soul full of poetry, his complex character deep and anything but “of no importance.”
