Theater Review:

Paul Stroili's Straight Up with a Twist
By Jeff Rossen

Although I'm sure she meant well, when his wife told Paul Stroili, "I'm so lucky to have found you. You're like this gay friend I can have sex with," it wasn't exactly a romantic enticement. But then again, it wasn't exactly a new analogy to Stroili's ears. More like a variation on a theme. After "growing up with what can only be described as an unusual talent," Stroili had known for many years before his wife's declaration that he was most definitely not like most straight men. Certainly not like his macho, hip-thrusting brother. But he also felt that there had to be others like himself out there in the world, other "renaissance geeks" other "metrosexuals." Men who know the difference between flan and creme brulee, who might have gotten a Fisher-Price tool box for a gift as a child and turned it into a planter. Men "who know the wrong things." And any gay guy will instantly identify with the such "things," but what if all those "things" that usually are associated with being gay are part of the makeup of a straight man?

Over the course of 90 minutes, Stroili takes us on a visit back to his childhood, teen years and into adulthood, introducing us to his mother, father, brother and psychiatrist. Not knowing his family or medical practitioner, one has no idea whether or not Stroili's impersonations of them are dead-on or not. But there is no doubt that his take on them is quite funny and that his chameleon-like ability to shift instantly between these characters and himself is not only impressive but also highly entertaining. And aren't true-life stories more interesting than fiction too? There's something so intimate about a performer getting up onstage and allowing us to glimpse into their personal history, and Stroili's affable and amiable demeanor puts us immediately at ease while instantly engaging us in the story he has to tell.

It might be easy to think, oh, well, this sounds more like something for straights than a gay audience, and, in some respects that's true. Yes, a gay man is going to sit there -- well, most gay men -- and think, yeah, well, that's what it's like being gay. That's the way we think. But don't write Stroili and his work off so cavalierly. Good acting is good acting, a good piece of writing is a good piece of writing, and a good laugh is a good laugh. And Stroili sinks a three-pointer from midcourt on all three shots. Geez, where the hell did that come from?