[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of The 6th Act’s production of Jonathan Tolin’s Buyer and Cellar, starring Emerson Collins and directed by Larry Raben at the Whitefire Theatre.
I wasn’t at all sure what to expect of this play. I have seen productions by The 6th Act many times and have always been wild about them. But I had a feeling this was different. And I wasn’t wrong. I had also been warned by more than one person that I may love this play so much I could spontaneously self combust…or words to that effect. Needless to say, I was intrigued, excited and wearing my flameproof undies.
This is a fictional account, we are assured by the enchanting actor Emerson Collins as the out-of-work actor, Alex More, whose story is the center of the play. In this fictional story, Alex is invited to apply for a very exclusive job in Malibu working for an unnamed star who has a small shopping mall in their basement to store their enormous collections of stuff. At the end of the interview, after being offered the job, he is told who he will be working for…Barbra Streisand. Alex holds it together long enough to get back in his dented VW. Which is really rather impressive, but the momentousness of this moment in his life does not by any means underwhelm him, any more than it does any of us.
His boyfriend is also equally mind-blown and obsesses over every nuance of Alex’s job. When the lady of the house finally comes down to peruse her little shops and pretend to buy something, Alex rises to the occasion and sweetly plays his part as shopkeeper and rare doll expert so well that Barbara becomes his regular customer.
Buyer and Cellar is such a whimsical concoction, such an odd and compelling proposition that the entire imagined encounter between this young actor and sometime Banana Republic employee and the biggest star of stage and screen the world has ever known feels utterly plausible. Indeed it rings sweetly true, and I am compelled to conclude by this that the insistence that this story is entirely made up can only mean that it isn’t…and that Babs does indeed have a shopping mall in her basement fully staffed by one charming actor for those moments when she just must have special scented soap for Barbara Boxer’s guest suit bathroom.
Of course, none of this magic means a thing if the actor playing the actor isn’t able to convince us of anything. Lucky for us, Emerson Collins is an out-and-out genius. He is this wonderful mixture of sweetness and blushing sour. He fulfills his weird duties as the sole mall salesperson with a studied seriousness while also fully appreciating the nonsense of it all. And when that glorious day finally comes that Babs asks him if he would like to see the main house, he handles the longed-for reward with aplomb.
Buyer and Cellar is a phenomenal play. The best kind of comic, clever, heartfelt and slightly heartbreaking journey. There is not a note of cynicism. No easy, cheap quips, nothing tawdry or sensational. Just a boy standing in front of an icon asking her to love him…and maybe give him a little overtime.
I cannot recommend Buyer and Cellar enough. I want all my friends to see this, I’ve already told them too and if you see anything in a theatre anytime soon you must make it this astonishing, beautiful, wonderful solo play with the absolutely incandescent Emerson Collins…wow!
Tickets:
https://the6thact.ludus.com/index.php
Where:
The Whitefire Theatre
13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
When:
October 20 – November 10
Fridays at 8pm and Sundays at 7pm