After their monumental work on distilling E.L. Doctorow’s RAGTIME into a cohesive stage musical, playwright/librettist Terrence McNally approached Composer Stephen Flaherty and Lyricist Lynn Ahrens about a more intimate story from another existing property. This was A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, a sadly little-seen British film which featured a great late-career performance from Albert Finney and an early film role for Rufus Sewell.
The tale of Alfie Byrne, a closeted Dublin bus conductor in the early, and very Catholic 1960’s, who lived with his sister and was hopelessly in love with his driver, Robbie Fay, obviously touched Flaherty & Ahrens enough to start work on the project. The resulting show, which retained the film’s title, was a critical success but seemed to get lost in the flashier and louder musicals populating Broadway that season.
We are therefore lucky that A Noise Within is presenting the LA area with such splendid and moving production of A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE. Much of that is due to the sensitive touch of director Julia Rodriquez-Elliott. Alfie’s life is quite contained, and the show is filled with small moments of heartbreak and hope. Small, in the grand scheme of life, but monumental to Alfie and his cohorts. Rodriguez-Elliott charts each of these moments with minute precision, allowing us to feel them as if the characters are old friends.
Of course, she couldn’t do this without actors who have the emotional range to match her, and there are no disappointments in this cast. Kasey Mahaffy’s Alfie is the beating heart of the show, and whether he’s reading Oscar Wilde’s poetry to his daily commuters on the bus, directing his production of Wilde’s SALOME with equal portions of love and incompetence, or basking in the closeness of Robbie Fay (CJ Eldred), we feel every bit of love, fear, and, especially, hope. Mahaffy’s Alfie is both adorable and indomitable.
Eldred’s Robbie certainly has the kind of looks that would attract Alfie and his well-placed tenor easily fills the theater during “On the Streets of Dublin,” the showiest moment in a score that is deliberately low-key. But what makes him a superb Robbie is his unquestioning affection for Alfie. A man he doesn’t truly understand, but respects anyway. Juliana Sloane makes comic fodder of all her moments as Alfie’s long-suffering sister, who’d just like him to get married so that she can feel free to do the same with the butcher, Mr. Carney (David Nevell). Carney is the closest thing to a villain in the show, as his Catholic propriety sends him to complain to the church authorities about SALOME as a “dirty” play. But Nevell makes that completely understandable as the duty of an upstanding man of that time. Nevell also doubles as Oscar Wilde, whose spirit speaks to Alfie in his private moments.
Analisa Idalia is Adele, the new girl on the bus whose looks inspire Alfie to produce SALOME. But she is more than a pretty face, and we watch her grow and learn from her brief time as Alfie’s Judean Princess. By the end, she’s taught him a lesson or two as well. Ed F. Martin’s Baldy is the company Stage Manager and the only person involved with a clear understanding of how truly terrible the productions are, something he is not afraid to voice. His tender song at his wife’s grave, “The Cuddles That Mary Gave,” brought a tear to my eye. And it wasn’t the only time I teared up during the show. .
The entire ensemble is terrific in their roles. They create full-bodied characters who are hilarious in their rehearsal antics and convincing in their genuine fondness for Alfie. Music Director Rod Bagheri makes his five-piece band a part of the ensemble. The music rises and falls with the necessity of the moment. There is no musical grandstanding, just storytelling. Francois-Pierre Couture’s Scenic Design offers just enough to place us, helped enormously by Ken Booth’s perceptive and responsive lighting. Angela Balogh Calin’s costumes suit the characters and the period without calling attention to either.
This is a memorable production of a little-seen musical that deserves your attention. You have till the beginning of June to catch it.
A Noise Within May 4 – June 1, 2025 www.anoisewithin.org
