Frankie Moran

San Diego Arts

"The Daddy Machine" at Diversionary Theatre

Local theatre presents world premiere
By Frankie Moran
Posted on Jan 22 2008
Last updated Jan 28 2008

Apple juice was the beverage of choice, and there were enough small children present it could've been an Easter egg hunt.

Hardly your usual opening at Diversionary Theatre, which has until now, like most GLBT theatres around the country, specialized in plays dealing with the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (not to mention decidedly adult-oriented) experiences.

How refreshing, then, to welcome to the mix "The Daddy Machine," a light-hearted, engaging new musical for all ages that opened this weekend at Diversionary's cozy University Heights space.

Admittedly, this theatregoer was skeptical when he first heard Diversionary was commissioning a new musical based on the children's book of the same name by anonymous author Johnny Valentine. Something to do with a kid who wants pancakes and the titular daddy-dispensing contraption (a "giant popcorn machine...for pops," the witty kid proclaims).

All sorts of questions arose. Where were the fabulous drag queens, the fresh-faced teens rife with coming out angst, the bitter ex-girlfriends and unaccepting parents and catty repartee that make up so much of the GLBT ouevre? A sunny, kid-centered show, not only about children but created with them expressly in mind? Without goodlooking young hunks running around in their unmentionables, my unenlightened mind pondered the question, "Would anyone come?"

I exaggerate, of course. Audiences have already come in droves for the increasingly varied and diverse fare served up by Diversionary. But families, with kids? This would seem to be a first.

Sunday's opening matinee audience had its fair share of young children enjoying scriptwriter Patricia Loughrey's hour-long tale of Harry and Sue, a brother and sister with two moms, a dog named Stonewall, and a magical machine that pops out dads. Composer/lyricist Rayme Sciaroni's six-song score is bright and boisterous contemporary musical theatre pop, and he and Siobhan Sullivan have co-directed with careful eyes for what will entertain both children and adults. If anything, though, they could stand to enlist the help of a choreographer to liven up some of the duller dance moments.

The children at Sunday's press opening were played by Benjamin Shaffer and Haley Heidemann (alternating with Max Oilman-Williams and Lirenza Gillette on selected performances). Both are given their turns to shine, first Shaffer with Harry's "I want" song, "Pancakes," and later Heidemann in Sue's bluesy "Sixty-Two Dads."

(With a need for 62 fathers on stage and a cast of only seven, the majority of the "fathers" have to come from somewhere else -- namely the audience and its imagination. Though the show is big on audience participation, sufferers of stage fright needn't worry. Only children -- and adults, too -- who want to participate are called on stage to come out through the "daddy machine.")

As the first two dads to emerge, Andy Collins is the goofy "Guy Dad," and Sven Salumaa is "Cool Dad." The warm Krista Page and Susan Hammons have most of the humor that adults will appreciate as Mom and Mama, respectively. The pair also don hippie- and construction worker-type drag (courtesy of costume designer Shelly Williams) to become Dads Three and Four in an amusing four-dad doo-wop number: it's "Jersey Boys," rated G.

Christian Lopez's Creamsicle-colored set (with accents of green and purple) works in tandem with Bonnie Breckenridge's colorful lighting design, which kept the eyes of even the small infant cradled in the mother's arms next to mine wide with wonder.

It's newcomer Jacob Caltrider, though, who makes the biggest impression as the cleverly named Stonewall, the family dog. From his charming opening number, "It's All Good," to the rousing audience sing-along, "My House" (yes, even the canoodled canine gets a wish; in this case, a doghouse of his own), he carries the show in his little paws with his infectious enthusiasm and playful manner. A favorite of kids and adults alike, Caltrider will definitely be one to watch for in the future.

Jacob Caltrider

Copyright©2008 Ken Jacques

Diversionary's audiences have proven already that they're ready to take on the more serious, thought-provoking works alongside the fluffy underwear farces. But in successfully producing a new work for younger audiences like "The Daddy Machine," Diversionary has almost single-handedly continued the progression and maturing of GLBT theatre, filling a previously leaky hole in that ever-widening umbrella of identities that should help to ensure a brand new generation of theatregoers.

VIEW PROGRAM PAGES 1-4 HERE (PDF)

VIEW PROGRAM PAGES 5-9 HERE (PDF)

About the author: Frankie Moran is a graduate of the 2008 NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater at USC's Annenberg School of Communication. He was also a Phi Theta Kappa valedictorian at San Diego's own Mesa College and graduated from UCLA's School of Theater, Film, and Television. Frankie got his start in theater criticism writing reviews of Broadway shows during a short stint at Columbia University. Since then, he has written for the North County Times and the Las Cruces Bulletin.
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