In acclaimed playwright Michael McKeever’s MR. PARKER, an inter-generational relationship leads to a complex web of family soul searching. This “Gay to December” romance finds a widower trying to come to terms with the loss of his longtime spouse while balancing a new potential love interest against the disapproving glares of his overpowering sister-in-law. Randy Brenner, returning to direct MR. PARKER, was last season’s director of Dezart Performs’ A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE GYNECOLOGIC UNIT… Rex Reed describes MR. PARKER as “a very intelligent, absorbing look at contemporary relationships and the conflicts that keep us all from aging with joy and peace of mind. This play is a real discovery.” MR PARKER runs April 12 – 21 at the Pearl McManus Theatre at the Palm Springs Women’s Club, closing out the company’s record-setting 16thseason. Audience members will remember Parker’s DANIEL’S HUSBAND as a stand-out hit of the Dezart Performs’ 2020 Season.
“MR. PARKER is a mirror to the complexities and challenges of adapting to life’s unexpected turns,” says Dezart Performs’ founding artistic director Michael Shaw. “This is a story that resonates with anyone who has faced the need to reinvent themselves at a crossroads in life. It’s a journey of self-discovery and reflection on love, loss, and identity in contemporary America.”
At 54 years old, Terry Parker (David Pevsner) finds himself at a crossroads in his life. After the death of his partner of 30 years, he finds himself suddenly single and unable to adjust to a world that has moved on without him, attempting to “step gingerly out of grief’s stasis and into the unknown” (New York Times.) After a night of heavy drinking, he wakes up with a 28-year-old bartender-slash-Uber-driver, Justin (Nick Giedris). These two very different people begin a tentative relationship, looked at askance by Terry’s formidable former sister-in-law, Cassie (Marsha Mercant). What starts out as a one-night stand becomes a journey of self-discovery for a man trying to let go of the past and move forward, while dealing with the pressures of being middle-aged, gay and alone in the ever-changing landscape of today’s America. The result is “a stunning work by an accomplished playwright; an amusing, heartfelt and emotionally astute look at love, loss and the struggles of facing an uncertain future” (OnStage Blog).