A Man of No Importance

 A-

John Doyle ends his six-year tenure as artistic director of CSC with an excellent revival of this modest 2002 musical with book, music and lyrics by Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens respectively. The repressed homosexual protagonist, Alfie Byrne (Jim Parsons), is a Dublin bus conductor with a crush on his handsome driver Robbie Fay (A.J. Shively). Alfie lives with his older sister Lily (the always wonderful Mare Winningham), who has put off marriage until she sees her brother wed and settled. Alfie’s main interest in life is the amateur theater group devoted to the works of Oscar Wilde that he leads at the local church. His latest project is Wilde’s Salome even though it is unlikely that the church will allow it. He recruits the reluctant Adele (Shereen Ahmed), a beautiful young woman newly arrived in Dublin to play the title role. The cast is universally excellent. The motley crew of amateur actors are played to the hilt by a fine ensemble that includes CSC alums Mary Beth Peil, Thomas Sesma, Alma Cuervo, Kara Mikula, Jessica Tyler Wright and William Youmans, as well as Da’von T. Moody, Nathaniel Stampley and Joel Waggoner. As actors in a Doyle production are wont to do, most of them also play instruments. Doyle's set is bare-bones with folding chairs prominently deployed. Flaherty’s Irish-inflected score is easy on the ears and Ahrens’s lyrics develop character and move the plot. McNally’s affecting book stumbles a bit toward the end, but not enough to diminish one’s pleasure. I know I was deeply moved. Running time: one hour 45 minutes, no intermission.