Fitz & Walloughs Get It in the End

Adhering closely to the style of "The Only Thing Straight...," Fitz & Walloughs is a darkly comic "farewell concert" of the titular fictional duo act, played by Bucey and Edwards, respectively. The team has made their careers performing songs penned by the manic Fitz (his name is no accident) about his suspiciously many dead boyfriends, all of whom met violent ends. As Fitz recounts his romantic history through songs with such titles as "F*** Me for Christmas" and "The Church of Self-Inflicted Despair," his morose pianist, Walloughs (his name is no accident, either, and neither is the fact that their names rhyme with certain post-coital acts) tries to stay sober and keep up with his partner while hiding some painful secrets of his own.

It's all very campy and dizzy and silly, but it somehow misses the intelligent wit that made The Only Thing Straight... so fascinating. Fitz & Walloughs... seems to be merely an excuse for Bucey and Edwards to push the envelope as far as they can, discussing sexual acts and violence in graphic detail. Granted, it's often funny, but after a while it becomes repetitive, and loses its shock value. (And as Michael Dale has said over and over again, there is nothing so dull as someone trying to shock you.) But at more than two hours and with an unnecessary intermission, the show is too big to support its thin premise. Were it tighter and a bit shorter, the best material wouldn't be drowned in repetitive banter that doesn't further the story or reveal more about the characters.

Bucey and Edwards' songs are tuneful and frequently funny, and if the rhymes aren't exactly brilliant, their awkwardness is all in the campy spirit of the show. Bucey sings the numbers wonderfully and with great energy, and delivers his banter with the voice and timing of Carol Channing. He is well supported, both comically and musically, by Edwards and the band (including two lovely backup singers-- Leslie Anne Friedman and Jennifer Houseal deserve much credit for remaining so steadily in character while Bucey chews the scenery around them). Hagen's direction drags a bit at times,  but he certainly knows how to create a bizarre and dark world in which such figures as Fitz and Walloughs seem perfectly normal.