Waiting In The Wings - The Musical

As much as this indie comedy wants to be thought The Shit, it's unfortunately pretty awful. Feeling that it is based on a stage-show, the lack of thought in it is apparent: not a bad premise, exactly, but not well-written nor directed. Two young men come to New York from opposite sides of the performing tradition: Antony Richardson (screenwriter Jeffrey A. Johns) is a na�ve-to-the-point-of-distraction sissy-boy from Hicksville, Montana, come to the Big Apple to make a Broadway star of himself. With limited experience and entirely too old to be starting, he discovers another form of entertainment he never expected.

The other "Anthony," Richards (Adam Huss) is a stripper who wants a larger career doing what he's sexually used to: having a different woman every night. So, when they both send in pictures & resumes to a sleazy producer, his assistant gets them mixed up so that the gayboy is sent to work in a male-stripper act, for which, at 5'3" he is decidedly not qualified, and the non-gay boy is sent to the musical theatre company, which requires a more disciplined talent than he has known.

Unlikely to have happen, to put a fine point on it, but for dramatic purposes it might have worked if the screenplay was more accurate to character and place, and the direction by newcomer Jenn Page not so flat. As an example, close-ups on actors singing or emoting, without having them pull it back in size so it would not be so intrusive.

The musical numbers are sweet on a community-theatre level, and the strippers (all male) are a bitchy sort, not Mr. Mike-type. There's a lot of pro-gay material, especially targeted towards Show Fairies, but not particularly original or clever. The one standout is Huss, who shows a level of talent far above his character's. The choreography of Roddy Kennedy and Arianna Hyatt is professional, so much of the film is fun to watch; just not enough of it.

It took two years to find a buyer and you can see why. It's a shame it isn't better because what does work -- the high-energy talents of the cast -- doesn't pan out dramatically, allowing an overall flatness to the look.