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“Ryan O’Connor Eats His Feelings”
Laurie Beechman Theatre – May 2, 9, 16, 23
Ryan O’Connor—YouTube sensation, Top Five finalist on Your OWN Show: Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star last winter, friend to stars on both coasts, and a singer and actor in his own right—certainly came to the Laurie Beechman Theatre this spring with plenty of hype for his one-man show, “Ryan O’Connor Eats His Feelings.” After a cute musical intro by two back-up boys and musical director Brian Nash, O’Connor happily jumped up on stage and announced, “Is anyone else in the audience fat? I’m gonna sing about it, laugh about it and cry about! So let the buffet begin!”
Sadly, the show was more of a dog’s dinner than a buffet.
This is not due to a lack of talent. O’Connor, who is kind of an amalgam of Drew Carey, Michael Moore, and the late John Candy, has a very likable personality and a sturdy pop tenor voice. The first problem is that it’s hard to carry the concept of overeating to a 60-minute show, let alone the 90 minutes that this show runs.
There were some nice moments. O’Connor creatively hung a velvet drape over the mic stand so he could easily wipe the sweat from his face. Like the performers on the old Carol Burnett Show, he has a winsome ability to laugh at himself. He got his biggest laughs with his parody “At the Buffet,” modeled on “At the Ballet” from A Chorus Line: “Daddy always said getting fat was for losers, that’s what he said, that’s what he said…”—and the silliness went on from there.
O’Connor made the case that his tendency to eat through his feelings is no different from what other celebrities do: “Whitney Houston snorts her feelings; Tiger Woods fucks his feelings.” From there, though, he went into long, surprisingly unrehearsed and rambling patter about having to choose sides in a divorce, before singing Ani DiFranco’s “I’m Not Angry Anymore.” He sang it well, but by the time he got to it, the audience was already drained.
Similarly, he launched into another overly detailed piece of patter about visiting his father after a heart attack had put him in a coma. At his bedside, O’Connor finally came out to his sleeping father; his Dad passed away the following day. What follows was Michael Arden’s “I Can’t Move,” and the audience reaction was the same: strained silence.
While it is admirable that O’Connor is no longer eating his feelings but showing them openly, the stage isn’t the place for revealing this. What is more important than his having these feelings is that the audience have them. In other words, the performer is more the therapist helping the audience experience the feelings; he should take care not to be the patient on the couch.
Interspersed throughout were tidbits about favorite guilty-pleasure foods, McDonalds, chubby chasers, and finding love. Not wanting to leave anything out, O’Connor entertained the crowd with clips from his Oprah experience, and he even had a View-like talk segment featuring guests, composer Scott Alan (who contributed the song “His Name” to the show) and edgy musical comedy artist Natalie Joy Johnson, who pretty much stole the show with her spot-on impromptu and uncensored observations, and then wowed with a novelty song. He closed with a big number, “Mama, I Got Love,” and then the subdued valentine to his adopted city, “NYC” (Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin).
O’Connor approached the evening’s entertainment as a get-together with friends and, although that has some charm, a cabaret act—as any performance art form—needs to have structure and direction. Furthermore, a show with a cover charge raises an expectation of high professionalism. While audience members may not expect a tux and tails from such a show, jeans and a flannel shirt don’t quite cut it. And, as one can never anticipate who is going to show up (such as a reviewer or industry person), a prepared song list is a minimal requirement.
Ryan O’Connor is young and talented. Now that he’s dealt with his feelings, next time around he may have enough distance to be able to create something more substantial and lasting—a gourmet meal as opposed to a junk food smorgasbord.
Kevin Scott Hall performed in cabaret clubs for many years and recorded three CDs, including “New Light Dawning” in 1998, which received national airplay. He also worked at the legendary piano bar, Rose’s Turn, and has taught cabaret workshops and directed shows since 1995. Kevin earned his MFA in Creative Writing at City College of New York. He is an adjunct professor in the Theatre and English departments at City College and Borough of Manhattan Community College. His novel, “Off the Charts!” was published in 2010, and his memoir, “A Quarter Inch from My Heart” (Wisdom Moon), in 2014. Kevin writes a monthly column and entertainment features for Edge Media Network, writes reviews for BistroAwards.com, and freelances for other publications.
