Steven Fales, playwright and actor, gained broad recognition in both the gay community and the LDS community for his one-man play, Confessions of a Mormon Boy which recounts his struggles with his faith and being a gay man. This new "cabaret confection" continues his cathartic working through his path from missionary, husband, father, prostitute and drug addict to out gay man, performer and author—this time through song as opposed to prose. Fales possesses a beautiful lyric tenor, perfectly suited to his very theatrical delivery. The musical numbers matched his narrative often with great dramatic effect (a tender rendition of the over-the-top Grammy Award winning "If He Walked In to My Life" sung to his young children). The pattern was repeated with Jesus Christ Superstar's "I Don't Know How To Love Him" referencing his days as a male hooker, a lovely "50 Percent," a nod to middle-age mistresses, and ABBA's "Money, Money, Money" about Mormon tithing. I got the sense that this was still a theatrical piece and wondered how it might have been more relaxed and less staged. Fales has the talent and the potential, and now that we've seen and heard his past history, it will be interesting to see if he can transition into a confident self-realized cabaret performer.
Steve Murray
Cabaret Scenes
February 9, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org
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