by Sarah Wright
After “musical theater,” the second most beautiful words in the English language are “90 minutes, no intermission.” Thanks to the third production in the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket’s current season, Buyer & Cellar offers audiences a perfect escape from reality. Think of it like this: “memorabilia, light the corners of my mind.”
If you marvel at one-person shows as I do, you are in for a theatrical treat: Robbie Simpson’s tour-de-force about a singular woman working through lots of stuff underneath her barn. Set in the windowless basement of a certain diva’s domicile, Buyer & Cellar evokes the 7-1/2 floor in “Being John Malkovich” because both are portals into the psyches of famous actors.
Some background…the singular woman in question is none other than Barbra Streisand. Inspired by her 2010 coffee table book “My Passion for Design,” playwright Jonathan Tolis honed his comedic chops after reading a particular passage in Streisand’s first book. While the tome tackles taste writ large, the chapter about a re-created shopping mall in her basement grabbed his attention.
Buyer & Cellar takes place in Malibu. Sam Transleau’s scenic design and Katy Feldhahn’s set dressing capture the subterranean set well, clearing space for viewers to use their imagination while Simpson engages multiple characters in conversation. Likewise, Stephen Petrilli’s lighting prowess subtly shifts time here, sequencing the plot by propelling things forward. In other words, TWN’s passion for design and visual style adds to the play’s light and breezy vibe.
From the start, Simpson takes center-stage as struggling actor Alex More, issuing several disclaimers about what audiences are about to see. For example, Alex disclaims any connection between Tolis’s play and journalism. “The premise is preposterous,” he says. “This is a work of fiction,” he reminds us. And he will not impersonate Streisand as much as he will inhabit her, homing in on her obsessive compulsive tendencies with awe and bemusement.
Of course, Streisand’s legendary perfectionism is no doubt a key ingredient to her success. But Alex has just been let go from the Happiest Place on Earth after an angry outburst involving a churro while he was the Mayor of Toontown. When one door closes, another one opens.
Telling this exact story to his boyfriend Barry, Alex embodies several other characters, including Vincent from HR at Disneyland and Barbra’s assistant Sharon. The former helps him land a new gig, while the latter acts as gruff gatekeeper to the greatest star, helping Alex navigate his new position. But what exactly does this odd job entail?
Of his new assignment, Alex knows “it’s near the ocean with rich people.” But when he learns he’ll be working on site in Streisand’s basement, Alex also isn’t sure what to expect.
He dutifully admires Streisand’s doll collection, antique furniture, costumes, and candy shop. Still he is supposed to curate her prized possessions, despite The Lady Herself having done so already. Hired perhaps more for his availability to indulge her passion projects, Alex mostly imagines meeting Barbra, though he is constantly thwarted by Sharon instead.
Then it happens; Streisand appears. She saunters down the cellar staircase and makes her entrance exactly the way you’d picture it: perfect hair, perfect nails, dolled up in a Donna Karan number designed by her fashionable friend.
Oozing insane aloofness, but also warmth and humor, Streisand eyes one of her own dolls—then asks Alex how much it is. Thus begins an absurd yet touching sequence where the two earnestly connect in this reality-based imaginary world.
As they haggle, I couldn’t help but think of the final scene in “Citizen Kane,” when Charles Foster Kane famously utters his last word and we realize what “Rosebud” symbolizes. From Xanadu to Malibu, a priceless cinematic thread connects the two.
After Alex and Barbra’s initial meeting, the two reconvene to discuss the sale of her antique doll. Again, Streisand already owns it and it is truly not for sale. But their banter belies something of far greater value: human connection. This is the stuff of healthy relationships over frozen coffee yogurt with sprinkles.
I always love conversational theater and film, where the main event is dialogue. Watching one man play himself, his boyfriend, a friend in HR, an assistant to a celebrity star, the Queen of the Divas, and her husband James Brolin, this is a feel-good theatrical feat refreshed for the moment.
As it turns out, Barbra Streisand is now 83 years old. Living history, she claims to have been inspired by the Winterthur Museum in Delaware when she built underground Main Street shops at her Malibu mansion. This tracks. The Winterthur is the self-described premier museum of American decorative arts displayed in a 175-room house once home to Henry Francis du Pont.
Indeed, Simpson’s Streisand is the whole reason to see Buyer & Cellar. I also firmly believe she would find his portrayal respectfully spot-on. Who knows?
After so many years of “Coffee Talk” skits on SNL, she finally showed up to surprise Mike Myers, Madonna, and Roseanne Barr when they were spoofing her cult fandom. Maybe she’ll swoop in to Nantucket just to see Simpson’s fabulous performance, too. If you’ve seen her in “Carpool Karaoke” with James Corden, coul d happen.
Sarah Wright embraces theater for its live performance art, storytelling, & shared experience.
Buyer & Cellar is on the TWN stage through August 14. Full schedule and ticket at theatrenantucket.org
