‘Gunmetal Blues’

Alison Fraser, Patrick Quinn and Daniel Marcus star in this film noir-inspired musical at George Street Playhouse.

By: Stuart Duncan
   If you are over 35 years of age, I suggest that you immediately call the box office at George Street Playhouse and reserve tickets for Gunmetal Blues. If you are under that age you probably will want to do the same thing, but first, perhaps you should rent Casablanca and one or two other Humphrey Bogart films — just in case you’re not already comfortable with the genre.
   Gunmetal Blues is inspired by the classic film noir detective films of the 1940s, and inspired is most certainly the appropriate word. The details that director David Saint and his cast of three have tucked into this unusual musical are inventive and surprisingly touching. We meet "The Blonde," Alison Fraser; "The Private Eye," Patrick Quinn; and "The Piano Player," Daniel Marcus, and they lead us into a world of smoke and mirrors, shadows and shattered dreams.
   The plot is simple: millionaire Adrian Wasp is found dead on Mansion Hill, and a mysterious blonde is seen leaving his penthouse. Can Sam Galahad find Wasp’s missing daughter and only heir? Or maybe she is better off lost? We begin at the Red Eye Lounge, one of those bars in one of those hotels out by an airport. This one is classy enough to have a real live piano player. No matter that he is disillusioned not to be playing the classics — he sure knows his show tunes.
   And, right from the start, with the magic of Michael Anania’s delicious set, a blend of glass and steel on George Street’s turntable, folding and unfolding into various spots all over town, lit beautifully by Christopher Bailey, we are in a land remembered from the 1940s. It’s a time when blondes trailed boas, when the piano player knew not only all the tunes but all the lyrics, and when every clever private eye was named Sam and wore a raincoat.
   And what wonderful actors director Saint has for us: Alison Fraser has been at George Street before, in each of the past two seasons. Here she hits every nuance of the frightened blonde, plus does impressive cameos as a bag woman and a sexy chanteuse. Patrick Quinn fits the private eye motif to perfection, and at one point shows just how clever this production really is. Sidling around a glass door, shadows falling across his pulled down fedora, he reaches into his raincoat pocket, pulls out a harmonica, and plays a soulful, lonely few bars.
   But the surprise of the evening is Daniel Marcus. First he is a superb cocktail pianist, but more interestingly, he doubles, triples and then adds a few more characters as a police sergeant, a few friends of the deceased and the like, switching hats, virtually in mid-sentence, all without missing a single chord. He originated the role in the off-Broadway production, but here he admits to getting a bigger workout. So, by all means, call the box office. Oh, and that Casablanca movie is pretty good stuff.
Gunmetal Blues continues at George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, through April 30. Performances: Tues.-Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun. 2, 7 p.m.; April 22, 27, 29, 2 p.m. No 7 p.m. performance April 30. Tickets cost $32-$60. For information, call (732) 246-7717. On the Web: www.gsponline.org