Early on in Marc Spitz's I Wanna Be Adored, a darkly comic take on the life of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, your heart sinks when you think you've pegged the play as a routine, earnest "why did he do it?" parable about someone you could care less about. Thankfully, you're proven very wrong in this playful, often hilarious take on celebrity, the afterlife and bizarre strip clubs. While never more than a cheerful lark, the piece has real momentum, as it traces Ian (John Del Signore), a moody bastard with a penchant for darkness and sunglasses at night, as he hangs himself, as well as the results of his cowardly action. Leaving behind a loving wife (Edelen McWilliams), a promiscuous French social-climber lover (Annie Parisse) and his bandmates, he is taken on a journey of the afterlife by a cynical angel named Mad Simon (Jonathan Marc Sherman), who shows him, "It's a Wonderful Life"-style, what went wrong and how he must correct it.
After the sluggish opening, Adored reaches inspired lunacy in its purgatory segment, set in a seedy strip club with a Cabaret bent, replete with an overly exhausted, wheelchair bound stripper (also played by McWilliams) and a monocle-wearing MC (a screamingly funny Jonathan Lisecki). Bobby Lemondrops (Peter Dinklage) is a foul-mouthed, faux-hipster comedian who is meant to be one of Ian's tormentors, as the angel explains that Ian must choose to remedy his past mistakes or subject himself to this place. Actually, this is the best place to be in the play, as this raucous segment is an absolute delight, all the players are wonderful, and it has the kind of fun vibe that the adobe theater company [sic] often exhibit in their work. Unfortunately, Adored becomes a little too earnest and static in its final act, where Ian must drop his pretense and become desirable to those left behind in order to ascend into heaven.
Still, director Carlo Vogel stages with enthusiasm, and the work has an overall charming ardor that is hard to argue with. Spitz's assertions on fame and power are nothing new, but his light comic touch is often very appealing, I would love to see a strictly comic work by this talented playwright, but for now, this one will do nicely.
