Salvage will make you laugh, cry, and want to sing along – just like the best country song you can remember, performed in a spare, alt-country, achingly bone-deep style.
At the Lounge Theatre in Hollywood through December 15th, this four character play takes place in a riveting 90 minute block, in a single-setting, with no intermission.
The barroom set is authentic, and the four-character-cast turns in perfect performances; three are also terrific musical performers whose vocals are heartbreaking and perfect.
With a book by by Tim Alderson, and music and lyrics by Alderson, Mark Heard, Pat Terry, and Randy VanWarmer, the story spins on a familiar wheel that is no less compelling from one finding it recognizable.
Directed by Damian D. Lewis, the play is a richly felt story of a love triangle gone bad, a “bad boy” who regrets his past, young love, sacrifice, and the devouring faith and fury of dreams.
The cast consists of the David Atkinson as the edgy, broken, aging “Preacher;” Christopher Fordinal as young Harley, Nina Herzon as Harley’s dulcet-voiced wife; and Leonard Earl Howze as barkeep Johnson. All are stellar.
Without revealing the lovely twists and turns of the play, suffice to say young, idealistic singer/songwriter Harley is about to pawn his guitar to help support his wife and coming child, when he spots a bar where a musical idol died.
Entering the place, he engages in conversation with the surly bartender and the angry, talented, drunken musician regaling noone with his broken-hearted songs.
Harley’s young pregnant wife shows up with her own connection to the place; histories unfold, faith and love and rage spool out in complex, stirring threads.
The songs are not just musical interludes, they propel the story forward and grab you by the throat and heart.
Salvage is what theater should be: intense, emotional, and evoking a connection with the audience; a sacred bond of feeling, one that can be carried out of the theater and into the heart.
Go get yourself a ticket, and bring a tissue – guys, too.
For tickets call 323-960-7712 or purchase online at www.Onstage411.com/Salvage
The Lounge Theatre is located at 6201 Santa Monica Blvd.
- Genie Davis; photos provided by The Lounge Theatre