The Disney Diaries: A Dream is a Wish...

Those looking for a sweet, funny and utterly charming way to celebrate Pride Weekend would do well to hit the Laurie Beechman Theater this weekend and revel in Phil Geoffrey Bond's memories of Gay Days at Walt Disney World. The Disney Diaries could easily descend into snark and camp, but Bond's script finds a more emotional humor in the story of a single gay man's vacation in Florida, creating a story that is at once hilarious, gently poignant and agonizingly recognizable.

Because, honestly, who has never felt out of place in a crowd? Who has never gone on a journey to find a connection--or to find oneself? Who has never dreamed of finding answers--only to find more questions instead? The emotions Bond presents are universal, and his protagonist’s emotional journey could be anyone’s, anywhere.

Not that Bond's script is a weighty philosophical exercise--far from it. With equal measures of wit and heart, Bond spins a painfully funny story of one man's search for love and community in a plastic paradise.

At Disney World's annual Gay Days, the unnamed protagonist (as played by cabaret artist Jonathon Whitton) is awkwardly isolated among the crowds, stuck in a horrifying off-property hotel (memo to all travelers: If you find little black hairs in your room, demand an upgrade) and unable (or perhaps unwilling) to connect to the people around him. His week in Florida become a journey of self discovery, with every outlandish character he meets playing a part in his increasing self-awareness.

Whitton, a MAC Award-winning cabaret artist, makes himself into an appealing Everyman, using a dry but gentle humor to comment on his journey. As a singer, Whitton brings a nice musicality to Bond’s words (and Bond, who has also earned MAC Awards for his work in cabaret, makes his language subtly lyrical). Tony-winner Michele Pawk, also an acclaimed singer, directs with a deft hand, letting the situations provide the humor rather than resorting to camp or bitchiness.

While any one of these angles—writing, acting or directing—could easily have gone over the top and missed the mark, all three are refreshingly natural and unaffected. Truth is stranger than fiction, as they say, and sometimes, reality is hilarious enough.  

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