Singing from the heart

What better way to outline the life of a gay man in New York City than through show tunes?

While that might seem stereotypical, New Helvetia Theatre’s short-run production of Songs From an Unmade Bed, a song cycle performed as a solo show entirely in an exceptionally large and very unmade bed, is anything but. It’s funny, sad, sweet and above all, really, really honest.

And that includes numbers like “Exit Right,” a frenetic—and acrobatic—song that explores the nature of a relationship with someone whose primary focus is himself; “Oh, to Be Stupid Again,” a lament about the way that maturity and a dash of cynicism so thoroughly destroys our romantic natures; and the stunning, melancholy “Our Separate Ways,” about a relationship ending in the most final of ways.

The pajama-clad role is inhabited by New Helvetia founder and artistic director Connor Mickiewicz, his strong and emotional tenor offset by his skill at turning irony on himself. For a fellow who never gets out of bed, he manages to get around.

Musical director Graham Sobelman is in charge of the keyboards, with percussion by Jim Nakayama and cello played by Tim Stanley. Stanley also gets a turn on the bed in a nice performance as the boyfriend in “He Plays the Cello.”

Directed by Jouni Kirjola, Songs From an Unmade Bed is a delightful evening of musical theater, offering an insight into gay life that isn’t a call for political or social action; instead, it focuses on matters of the heart, which are indeed at the heart of the matter.