The wildly talented Michael Mullen is a force of nature. His solo performance in Jonathan Tolins’ Buyer & Cellar is a masterful piece of acting in this demanding one-person show. Mullen plays multiple roles, including Barbra Streisand, with a heartfelt depth of understanding that ranges from hilarity to pathos. With the collaboration of director Cate Caplin, Mullen finds each of the moments that tell the fanciful tale with very human touch.
Tolins’ play premiered in 2013 in an Off-Broadway production that won a Drama Desk award. The play imagines Alex Moore, a struggling Los Angeles gay actor who is hired to staff a vintage mall built underneath Barbra Streisand’s Malibu mansion. (All this is pure fiction, as made abundantly clear at the beginning of the play.) While not a fanatical Streisand fan, Moore is intrigued by the job, which consists of playing the role of a salesman for the sole customer, Streisand, who occasionally graces the store.
Moore’s boredom soon turns into an adventure as Streisand visits and slowly develops a bond with the young actor. They share a passion for design — and Moore soon becomes Streisand’s buddy, or so he thinks. After a painful breakup with his boyfriend and the disintegration of his friendship with Streisand, Moore has to take stock of his life, loves and friendships.
Mullen brings to life a marvelous array of characters, not the least of which is Streisand herself. He brings forth not only her well-known diva perfectionism but also the insecurities of a plain-looking girl from Brooklyn. It is the relationship between Alex – who is sort of a gay LA Everyman — and the Streisand musical icon that is at the heart of the play and which Mullen brings to full bloom.
Mullen also portrays a host of other characters — the very proper British mansion manager, Alex’s butch aspiring screenwriter boyfriend, and even Streisand’s husband James Brolin. For nearly two hours on stage, Mullen energetically enlivens every scene with asides to the audience and Hollywood inside humor. The show is a true delight and a chance to see one of the gems of the LA theater scene.
Buyer & Cellar. Through June 20th. The Victory Theatre Center. 3326 W. Victory Blvd. Burbank, CA 91505. Tickets.