Director Finds Catharsis in Musical ‘All That He Was’ : Premiere: James Taulli of Cal State Fullerton praises the voice of Larry Johnson, whose book and lyrics focus on a young gay man who has died of AIDS.

A bittersweet feeling of recognition struck James Taulli the first time he read through “All That He Was.”

It was May, and Taulli was part of a group of Cal State Fullerton professors and students preparing to scrutinize the AIDS-related musical in a theater and dance department workshop.

“I had friends who were dying of AIDS; I was helping my friends through their deaths, (and) I was shocked by the way ‘All That He Was’ paralleled those experiences,” Taulli recalled.

“It informed me, and I felt so moved that someone had the guts to musicalize (some of the issues surrounding) this gross killer. It had such an (impact) on me that sometimes I feel like I’m doing this for selfish reasons, to work through my own experiences.”

The show eventually was chosen for a full department staging, and Taulli, a graduate student with a directing major, was tabbed to head it. After several weeks of honing the musical with its creators, Larry Johnson and Cindy O’Connor, “All That He Was” will premiere Friday night at CSUF’s Arena theater.

The piece, with book and lyrics by CSUF graduate Johnson and score by O’Connor, focuses on a 29-year-old gay man who has recently died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

As friends and family gather at his funeral, he reflects on his life, his death and the people who were close to him. His parents--a caring mother and a disappointed father--add their voices, as do a loving brother and a Bible-thumping sister. The man’s lover, his doctor and an AIDS activist also ponder what his death means and what the disease means to society in general.

Obviously not the breeziest of material for a musical, but Taulli says the form is a good one to look at AIDS’ repercussions.

While most theater pieces about AIDS have been serious and often political--Larry Kramer’s groundbreaking and controversial “The Normal Heart” comes to mind--Taulli says a musical can present the issue in an audience-friendly way. He pointed to William Finn’s “Falsettoland,” another musical that addresses AIDS, as a good example.

“Besides the obvious profound aspects, ‘All That He Was’ can be very entertaining; it has a lot of humor,” Taulli said. “That’s the kind of approach that can draw people in. And even though it’s a musical, it really is important and has an urgency about it.

“We’ve strived to keep that urgency (during the workshops) but also keep it from being one of those somber, dirgy things. We’ve tried to maintain the viability, but minus that aura of propaganda.”

Jim Volz, a CSUF theater and dance professor who watched the show evolve, thinks everyone involved has met that goal. His optimism, in fact, reaches beyond the campus; Volz, who also reviews plays for Drama-Logue, said he plans to take it to professional theaters in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere in hopes of future stagings.

“What I like about ‘All That He Was’ is that it’s bright and not depressing but still deals with the issues. . . . Everyone in the department has become quite committed to it,” Volz said.

“As for the quality (of the musical itself), I remember hearing an early tape of the music and really falling for it. It has great potential, I think.”

Both Volz and Taulli agree that the time is right for the debut. They say they are buoyed by hopes for a genuinely kinder and gentler nation following Bill Clinton’s election as President and feel the message of “All That He Was” may now reach more people.

“This play is important both politically and emotionally,” Taulli stressed. “Politically, because it speaks to the bureaucratic idiocy in our current health-care system and (to those members of) the right wing who feel this disease is the wrath of God.

“Emotionally, this play expresses the range of feelings (that might be experienced) when faced with the devastating reality of this killer and informs its audience of both the consequences and rewards of those feelings.”

* Larry Johnson and Cindy O’Connor’s musical, “All That He Was,” opens Friday at 8 p.m. in at Cal State Fullerton’s Arena Theater, 800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton. Performances continue Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. through Nov. 22 with a 2:30 p.m. matinee Nov. 21. $4 and $6. (714) 773-3371.