Review: You've Got Us Sold with BUYER and CELLAR at the Provincetown Theater

There are some pretty fascinating productions out there, let me tell you; playwrights really come up with some incredible things that give new meaning to saying that you really can't make this stuff up. Although, when those ideas work, you can't get enough of them. When a play like Buyer and Cellar is written, a show about aspiring actor Alex Moore who finds himself employed by Barbra Streisand to work in her basement mall, you actually become grateful that someone not only thought of such an amusing idea, but also managed to almost effortlessly turn it into some sort of ingenious production.

When you see a single actor take the audience so willingly through the ins and outs of the most interesting job anyone will ever have, you have a feeling the show will be great. You have this sort of "how come I didn't think of that" moment, followed by moments of wondering how such an idea can possibly make its way to the stage. Give up thinking about it because you're not going to actually see the brilliance of Buyer and Cellar until you see it brought to life by the Peregrine Theatre Ensemble.

Peregrine has brought what a treat to Cape Cod with its performance of Jonathan Tolins' Buyer and Cellar, now gracing the stage at the Provincetown Theater and believe me - it isn't just the simple mention of Barbra Streisand that makes this production sparkle. Originally produced off-Broadway, Buyer and Cellar is a show which calls for just the right balance of partiality and dedication to the characters being represented and the realization that this entire story, as the audience is warned, is simply a work of fiction brought forth by a rather neutral narrator. Yet when the play begins, that warning is just about thrown out the window as we are all whisked away into a wildly entertaining, almost absurd world of basement malls, dolls with more fascinating lives than our own and an actor: a Mr. Alex Moore who cannot be believe what he gets himself into when he is hired to work as Barbra Streisand's sole employee.

Buyer and Cellar follows aspiring actor Alex Moore through a few acting stints before he lands the job as a mall employee in the Malibu home of Barbra Streisand. The show involves a single actor telling the entire story through the casual voices of all characters involved: from Alex to his rather opinionated and eccentric boyfriend, to the snotty woman responsible for his employ and finally Barbra herself, one man is meant not only to tell an entire ninety minute story by himself, but is also supposed to make it riveting. I am not always able to easily lend my attention over to what is happening on a stage, and you would think that the onus being placed on a single actor would make that ever the more difficult. That is utterly wrong, as Buyer and Cellar is seriously one of the most entertaining, attention grabbing shows you are bound to see. It is not just a simple comedic piece that is all fluff, meant to make people laugh and have fun; it is well written, has depth as a theatrical production and actor Nic Cory, who is that perfect sparkle that makes this show so damn fun.

Cory is a one man powerhouse who can one moment inform the audience that what will ensue is just fiction but then sink into the story he tells with so much enjoyment, he is able to bring everyone such a feeling of joy when he performs that it is almost infectious. As he navigates his way through a myriad of characters and emotions, he is so engrossed in what he is doing that the performance is intensified by what the audience can expect to see next: is it another of Alex's boyfriend Barry's hilarious reactions to everything bizarre that happens, or if Alex is going to win Barbra's respect by refusing to haggle with her for the price of a doll she already owns? Cory takes us through the entire story of Alex's employment within the home of the "megastar" and has quite a bit of fun with the entire performance.

Watching Cory is like having someone read a book to you, engaging you in the story and the characters and that's all well and good, but only a thousand times better because of how great a storyteller he is. I can imagine how difficult it is, how well you have to know your talents and abilities, to not only play one character but many, and to be the only one responsible for telling a story that is meant to make people laugh with witty (and sometimes musical!) references, obviously fairly absurd but surprisingly believable happenings and still hit home with a beautiful lesson to be taught at the end.

It really all comes down to the idea of one: one actor representing the true feelings of one person whose life has been changed because of his time with Barbra; as Cory stated in the story of how he became involved with this show, "It is through [these] trials that Alex comes to see that his most valuable relationship in his life is with himself." So one man can do great things with a performance, and the "aspirational" Cory in Buyer and Cellar really nails it. I enjoyed it very much, and I have little doubt that you will to.

Buyer and Cellar began performances at the Provincetown Theater (located at 238 Bradford Street in P-town) on August 22nd and will continue thru September 4th. Tickets range from $28.50 to $38.50 and may be purchased by either calling (508)487.7487 or visiting provincetowntheater.org. The remaining performances will be held this Wednesday thru Sunday @ 7:30. Please go and see this wonderful production before it, too, will most likely be stored in Barbra Streisand's basement.

Photo Credit: Ben Berry

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