Pasadena Playhouse Mare Winningham and Dennis Christopher star in "Side Man."
By Alicia Cheak
Daily Bruin Contributor
Often regarded as true artists, individuals who dedicate themselves to their passion exist on the fringe of society, living according to a different set of rules. Many get by only living from gig to gig, waiting for the next opportunity to express their art.
“Side Man,” Warren Leight’s Pulitzer Prize finalist piece, which also won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Play, is an atmospheric and bittersweet play about the joy and despair of when art and life collide. It unfolds in a dreamlike manner through the eyes of Clifford, the only son of Gene, a skilled and passionate jazz trumpet player and Terry, an alcoholic mother.
Set in 1953 and spanning some 30 years, “Side Man” traces the dissolution of a marriage against the backdrop of a larger event – the decline of jazz. The production opens with a 30-year-old Clifford, played with ironic detachment by JD Cullum who, overly responsible and self-effacing, takes too much upon himself. He believes his birth marked the end of his father’s freedom and his parent’s happiness. The retrospect is an attempt to frame the circumstances in his father’s life off the stage and the effect it has on his family.
Gene, his father, is the center of the story. A brilliant musician who is oblivious to the world around him, who steals the show but is unaware of it, Gene is maladapted for the real world. Governed by jazzonomics, a simple theory that places playing jazz on the top of a to-do list, Gene is headed for financial ruin and neither his wife nor son are able to prevent it. Instead, for different reasons, each hold on as long as possible before leaving but not without considerable damage.
Dennis Christopher puts on a convincing performance as Gene, the flawed father and husband. A tough role to play because it consists mainly of distant detached looks and a tempo slower than the rest of the cast, Christopher effectively delivers a man who, true to character, never takes the spotlight even if he is in it.
While Gene remains relatively unchanged throughout the play, he nevertheless evokes changes in those around him, namely Terry, a once tough but naive girl, now a disillusioned, hard drinking, three-packs-a-day smoker.
As Terry, Mare Winningham (“Wyatt Earp,” “Georgia”) is not up to the level of her counterpart but that could be because the audience is more accustomed to seeing her in more sober and restrained roles. It’s difficult to look beyond her history and see a woman acting out her discontent against the inertia around her.
Winningham’s outbursts are overplayed, staged and often forced. But although she may falter in this area, Winningham nonetheless charms as the unwitting wit – a clairvoyant, who sees potential in others but is, like Gene, oblivious to her own worth.
As Clifford, Cullum moves easily between narrator, observer in the scene, and center of the play – equally convincing as a 30-year-old disillusioned commentator and as a 10-year-old marriage counselor. He’s got issues of his own, namely the inability to be vulnerable, and chooses to let his words contain the irony rather than his attitude. In this regard, Clifford is more like his father.
Director Andrew J. Robinson recognizes the importance of his three central characters and allows each their moment on stage, while the others retreat graciously. Just as in jazz, each gets a solo, a chance to shine in the spot light.
Rounding up the cast is a cacophonous trio played smoothly by Gareth Williams, Ethan Phillips and Daniel Reichert, each eccentric in their own way and each adding humor to an otherwise harsh landscape of booze, drugs and gambling.
Beyond a domestic drama, what makes this production worth viewing is the music. Jazz composer Peter Erskine’s original score accompanies selections from jazz legends such as Clifford Brown, Benny Golson, Donald Byrd and Ella Fitzgerald. Together, they work harmoniously to create a graceful and moving experience.
“Side Man” is a poignant and at times humorous play of music and love lost. And while it would never be possible to truly recreate the era of smoke-filled music clubs in New York where musicians, as Clifford says in closing, lived and “mastered their obsession, who ignored or didn’t even notice anything else,” Leight’s play comes persuasively close.
THEATER: “Side Man” is playing through June 17 at Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molina Ave., Pasadena, Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 to $42.50. For more information call (626) 356-PLAY.