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Heller play launches thoughtful journey
By KAREN SHADE World Scene Writer
11/12/2007

Walking into Heller Theatre Friday night, I was greeted by the mellow crooning of Joao Gilberto to Stan Getz’s gentle sax playing over the sound system.

It wasn’t just coincidence that playwright Steven Deitz made one of their unforgettable bossa nova collaborations a focal point in his play about life’s journey. Hope and sadness rhythmically twine in beautiful melancholy both audibly and on stage in “Rocket Man,” which opened at the theater Thursday night.

Gracefully directed by Julie Tattershall, “Rocket Man” both is and isn’t what it sounds like. Donny, the central figure, is at the end of a 19-year marriage. He has one daughter, two close friends and the waking realization that he has not lived his potential in life.

His pal, Buck, is curious why Donny has taken a deep and sudden interest in astronomy. Truth is, his study of the stars is research as Donny prepares to leave the world as we know it behind for another one, where he hopes to do what he never did in this one

Charles Whitson (clockwise from top), Starr Hardgrove, Miriam Mills, Susan Apker and Julia Mills (center) appear in the stellar “Rocket Man,” continuing Thursday at Heller Theater.

JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World
“Rocket Man” isn’t a science fiction caper or one of those mild dramedies with scenes of an aging man scuttling about his workshop with rusted sheet metal and a welding torch to finish his star flyer as people around him shout, “You’re crazy!”

Donny hasn’t built a vessel. He has a more fatalistic way of crossing over into what must be out there somewhere — a second chance that awaits everyone.

Starr Hardgrove, who impressed with his acting in his own production of “Proof” this summer at the Nightingale Theater, is even better here as Donny. The gray streaks at the temples don’t quite convince that he is a lonesome man on the brink of middle age, but Hardgrove makes up for it in honest compassion for his character and a commitment to interpreting Dietz’s script. It’s hard to fault Tattershall for casting a younger actor in the role when he’s so obviously good in it.

When the play opens, Donny is in his attic, where he shows us the pedestrian walk button module he swiped from a street crosswalk earlier. It’s void of any wiring — never even hooked up to the street light. The discovery is the last candle blown out for Donny, who’s already been thinking about “the meaning of it all” for some time.

Learning that he doesn’t have an inkling of control even over a crosswalk sign is all it takes for his existential dilemma to get under way. Donny’s friend, Buck, comes up wanting to know why Donny is selling off all the material pieces of his life. He gets as much as we do where Dietz is headed at this point. We meet Donny’s daughter Trisha, his ex-wife Rita and his other close friend, Louise.

The playwright doesn’t make lengthy introductions or muddle scenes with huge chunks of backstory. “Rocket Man” jumps into it at the start and is so seamlessly written that the play could end at the conclusion of the first act. But missing the second act, you’d also be missing something special.

Dietz puts forward another reality that makes you wonder at human tendencies, choices and motivations. Would it make a difference if you knew how much time you had to live at the moment you came into existence?

Of course, the script wouldn’t thrive without a stellar cast of players that, in addition to Hardgrove, includes Charles Whitson as Buck, Julia Mills as Trisha, Susan Apker as Rita and Miriam Mills as Louise.

The play has its amusing times, particularly with Buck. In one fun scene, he confides to Louise his special calling. Julia Mills marks her Heller debut with a strong performance belying her years, while Miriam Mills (yes, they’re related) seems as if she’s had a long friendship with her character.

Apker certainly proves herself capable of handling Rita’s contradictions. Still, a groaning physical age gap between Rita and Donny might just be the pink elephant that refuses to leave an already small space.

As for Donny, Dietz allows him to ascend, and the impact is quite a blow to the people he leaves behind. But the author also allows us to explore our own thoughts on the inevitable and indeterminable.

“Rocket Man” is the kind of work you can analyze and discuss for days. And it wouldn’t hurt to dig out your “Getz/Gilberto” album or CD just for the heck of it.

The play continues at Heller Theatre, 5328 S. Wheeling Ave., at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $6 for seniors and college students, $8 for adults. For reservations, call 746-5065. For more information go to www.tulsaworld.com/heller.

Karen Shade 581-8334
karen.shade@tulsaworld.com

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