![\"buyer_&_cellar_aaron_swenson_photo_category\"](\"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/buyer__cellar_aaron_swenson_photo_category.jpg\")
<\/a>In PYGmalion Theatre\u2019s excellent Buyer & Cellar<\/em>, you have Barbra Streisand as herself; a quick cameo by her husband, James Brolin (in search of frozen yogurt with sprinkles); her down-on-his-luck employee, Alex More (recently fired as Disneyland\u2019s Mayor of Toontown for telling a child where to put his churro); his proudly Brooklyn-reared boyfriend, Barry . . . all these and more played with style and substance by one man conversing with himself: Aaron Swenson.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s a good thing, too, because he would be a tough act to follow. Swenson is an exceptional actor who, in some communities (many in attendance), is best known as the three-time lead in Plan-B Theatre\u2019s cult favorite Hedwig and the Angry Inch<\/em>. His charm and vivacity were truly transporting on opening night at the Rose Wagner Black Box.<\/p>\n Seating was cabaret style, with a bar stocked with a variety of excellent brews. The Perrier was reasonably priced; don\u2019t know about the beer \u2013 one daren\u2019t at a 90-minute production without a bathroom break, er, intermission.<\/p>\n The premise was based on a 2010 coffee-table book Streisand wrote about her Malibu estate, My Passion for Design.<\/em> In the basement of the barn (this part of the story is truth) she built a shopping mall to hold her accumulation of \u201cthings\u201d (and I thought I was a hoarder) that includes a doll shoppe, a gift shoppe, an emporium that carries antiques, another shoppe with vintage clothes \u2013 this was where the play was set, with a glam gown in a case with carved dolls around the base (so it could also serve as the doll shoppe); a clear plexi chair and tiny garden table. There was an imaginary popcorn machine; another that dispensed frozen yogurt. Alex was hired to dust it all and be a pretend shopkeeper should Barbra decide she wanted to \u201cbuy\u201d some of her own stuff \u2013 or have a coffee yogurt. She, too, was fond of sprinkles \u2013 lots of them.<\/p>\n Alex\u2019s first encounter there is with estate-manager Sharon (he plays her brilliantly) who tells him to show up the next day with his old car washed. Knowing little about gay icons Barbra and Liza (\u201cexcept when Barry would sit me down for a tutorial\u201d) Alex eventually comes to adore the diva and to eagerly await her visits to the shoppes. She, too, seems to open up to him. But . . .<\/p>\n The aspirational \u201cmessage\u201d for his life that follows (and I suppose there had<\/em> to be one) when it came was a little preachy and might not have had a comfortable place in this otherwise funny (sometimes raucously so) comedy.<\/p>\n The lively script does drag in a couple of places (do note the pun), but is abundantly redeemed by the rest.<\/p>\n With several broad steps for Swenson to gambol up and down, sit upon, and even talk to audience members at the front tables, Andrea Beecher\u2019s minimal set worked beautifully. Under the capable direction of Teresa Sanderson, Swenson consistently made excellent eye contact with the audience in the cabaret setup. Whether he could actually see beyond the front row is questionable, but he appeared to.<\/p>\n His movement to one side of the audience caused Swenson\u2019s voice to drop a bit, making some lines inaudible for those seated on the other side. And there was a constant whirring sound, impossible to tell if it was from lights or filming of the performance, but it was distracting. (Perhaps it came from Barbra\u2019s frozen yogurt machine?)<\/p>\n Swenson, in character, tells us he doesn\u2019t try to impersonate Streisand \u2013 but he very nearly channels her at moments. It\u2019s eerie. He aptly conveys laughter and sadness and whether you love the Funny Girl or loathe her, this play is a must-see because of his spot-on portrayal of ALL the characters.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a tour de force.<\/p>\n