The Pride Festival has launched another extraordinary show at TAPAC with Songs for Guy. There are four gay men singing songs, telling stories and capturing the lives and loves of gay men in our county with the highest professional skill and craft. 

It is an excellent cabaret show. It takes “those silly love songs” and tweaks them so they more accurately reflect gay experiences.  The “girl who can’t say no” (from Annie Get Your Gun) becomes “I’m just a boy who can’t say no”; “Someone to watch over me” has evolved into one man’s cry from the heart for a man to love.  

For generations gay men have loved Torch songs, the Broadway show stoppers and the poignant ballads sung by women to, about, and for their men. The male singers sang about their love and sorrow for a special lady. The gay audience simply swapped the lyrical “her” for “him” in their heads because they identified with the story and the true emotion in the songs.  They could see that these love songs were really about their lives and loves.

Songs for Guy simply develops this process in performances of a wide range of songs with style and passion. 

There are three superb actors who extend themselves in a range of difficult and complex songs.  Paul Barrett is the Musical Director and the accomplished pianist for the show.  He has brought Andrew Laing, Todd Emerson and newcomer from Wellington Martyn Wood to new levels of technical and musical performance. 

All the men are baritone voices but they extend to high tenor and soft sultry bass when needed to fulfil a range of gay experiences.  They perform solos, duets and trios. There are songs from Billy Joel with great harmonies, vicious acrimony from the show Mack & Mabel by Jerry Herman, theatrical fun from Chess the musical, and a touching reflection on age and memory in a solo by pianist Paul Barrett from La Cage aux Folles,to mention only a few of twenty numbers. The high energy cry from the heart ‘Being Alive’ (by Sondheim from Company) is a show triumph. 

What makes the show more than a recital is the addition of verbatim stories from the lives of our gay men.  Director Kip Chapman called for volunteers to tell him stories from their lives love and sexual experiences.  He must have a treasure trove of stories to call upon. He has cleverly edited them into short vignettes which capture the highs and lows of the gay experience.  Each of the actors tells the stories between songs.  The laughs of recognition and recall of memories ripple around the theatre … and they are all true!

Songs for Guy is a welcome return of the hit cabaret show performed for a short season in 2010.  It has been re shaped, with new songs and new stories, and it is a better show.  Working on a wonderful set designed by Dan Williams, there are three stages with cabaret style table seating for the audience.  You do have to swing around in your seat the follow the action at some points but the amplified sound from the three voices and piano is excellent. 

Songs for Guy is a thrilling night as spunky lean and hungry Martyn Wood, crooner and sparkly eyed Andrew Laing, and sensitive and lovable Todd Emerson sing and perform their way into our hearts.

This show is essential viewing for those who want highly skilled professional gay performers showing their chops with truth, honesty and a big dose of love. 

Songs for Guy has a short season, this Thursday, Friday at 8pm (no show Saturday as they will all be at the Pride Parade) and finally Sunday at 7pm.  Approx 1 hour 30 minutes, no interval.

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Three barstools, three mic stands. Paul Barrett, in a black suit, white shirt and red bowtie positions himself before the black grand piano. To a Claydermanesque piano-by-candlelight type classic I can’t quite pinpoint, the rest of the cast arrive. They hit the ground lounging with a dulcet rendering of Some Enchanted Evening. 

The vocal trio of Todd Emerson, Andrew Laing and Stephen Butterworth comprises an impressive range of pitch and harmony; powerful but more accessible than formidable. Their distinct wardrobes set them up as sort of casual archetypes: Laing the urban socialite, all in black with the suede jacket; Butterworth the Bohemian, also in black with big turned up cuffs and anarchically spotted party pants; Emerson the baby-faced dandy in a light pink shirt, grey pants and vest (with a black lapel) and a patterned bowtie.

Slightly cramped by the ceiling notwithstanding, Songs For Guy makes for a classy, laid back early evening’s entertainment, taking a sweet, sentimental journey through moments in the lives of a collection of gay men. Between them the four players portray a medley of roles based on men around Auckland who they interviewed for the purposes of the production. 

Every short scene is a glimpse into someone’s experience in the field of love and relationships, touching on various classic scenarios such as first love, profound lifestyle changes, catching up with an ex, being left for a woman, et cetera. The cast’s delivery is smooth and natural, and each personal vignette is punctuated by a well-chosen show tune and/or pop song. 

The array of musical numbers reflects the diversity of the storytellers’ personalities. I recognised most of the songs but could only name a few, e.g. Irving Berlin’s I Hear Singing, Leonard Cohen’s I’m Your Man, and the centrepiece single, the immortal Gershwin Brothers’ 1926 classic Someone To Watch Over Me. 

The catchword of the proceedings is Class. There’s none of the bawdy, shock value drag queenery or bitch-slapping trash talk that might spring to mind when one thinks of gay revue. Instead we are privy to a wholly more earnest, romantic aspect of gay love – yearning, tender, vulnerable, replete with humour and just a smattering of sleaze. Like earnest romance in any spectrum, it all goes that much better with a song.
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