Theater review: Songs from an Unmade Bed at Theatre Three in Dallas

by Carol Anne Gordon of John Garcia's The Column

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This cast has great chemistry, and I totally bought their ever-changing interactions.

The whole concept of this show sounded like a convoluted homework assignment from a retreat for wannabe lyricists: Just write some lyrics, then send them off to some composers to see what they come up with to fit them. That's what lyricist Mark Campbell did to create Songs from an Unmade Bed (playing in Theatre Too at Theatre Three through October 3) except he did it 18 times!

The result is a very enjoyable – and entirely too short – evening at the theatre. The whole show, which is just the 18 songs, takes only one hour. There is no dialogue between the songs, which is a good thing, because it would just be superfluous. Each song – perfectly enunciated and projected by the cast of three – tells a different chapter in a different love affair. Originally meant to be a one-man show (the story of a gay man and his ups and downs in Loveland), Director Terry L. Dobson has wisely expanded the cast to include another man and a woman.

Dobson is also the musical director and, on the night I attended, the leader of the musical accompaniment. And what accompaniment! So many instruments, arranged to fit all the infectious tunes perfectly. Thankfully, the three singers – Patty Breckenridge, Gary Floyd, and Chris Wagley – easily and professionally propel their voices and articulate the lyrics clearly, and the instrumental back-up never overpowers them. They are not mic'ed (as I wish the shows upstairs in Theatre Three were), because that would be unnecessary: The three perfectly deliver the words, tunes, and emotions without any technical enhancement.

David Walsh's set design is simple and comfortable: a large bedroom, with fluffy comforting clouds painted on calm cobalt blue skies on the walls and floor. Lighting Designer Paul Arnold's effects move the action quickly between songs, and deliver some hysterical results in the "I Want to Go Out Tonight" number. Bruce R. Coleman's costumes are both complementary to the actors' forms and movements, and complementary to the charming set.

If you're familiar with Jason Robert Brown's song cycle Songs for a New World, you may be thinking that Songs from an Unmade Bed is a derivation of that concept. But unlike the unrelated songs in New World, Unmade Bed's songs explore only the various stages of love – good, bad, short, long, just starting, about to end, never-should've-started, etc. My favorite was "Exit Right," which begins with a heterosexual couple under the covers, trying to make "it" work, and then Breckenridge pops her head out of the covers and sings, "Sex with an actor! WHAT was I thinking???"

Wigley, one of the two men in the cast, delivers two hilarious numbers. The first is "The Other Other Woman" (which is him – see, he's aware he's helping a guy cheat on his boyfriend, but then he finds out that the guy has ANOTHER guy on the side, and so ... well, you really need to see this number!) Wigle's second solo is "He Never Did That Before," where he wonders how his lover came up with that great new technique in bed, right after he came home from a business trip in Akron. He tries to dismiss it by saying the move was far too advanced for Akron, but ... he also has a third number; the poignant "I Miss New York" is sigh-inducing.

Speaking of sigh-inducing, Floyd, the other male actor, is much more than delicious drool-stimulating eye candy here. He also dispenses lots of laughs, especially in the initially deceptive ballad "The Night You Decided to Stay." This cast has great chemistry, and I totally bought their ever-changing interactions.

This is a great way to spend a pleasant evening, and due to the too-short running time of the show, you'll still have time to go out afterward, even on a school night.

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