A Cathartic View of a Search for Sexual Identity

A funny thing happened to “An Unfinished Song” on its way to the Tiffany Theatre. The heterosexual love story became a gay love story.

“This is the fourth production of the show,” said writer-composer James J. Mellon, who is also directing and co-starring in the musical. “The first time we did it was in 1987 in San Francisco, and the main character was a woman.” The following year, Mellon was already itching to bring the story back to one about two men, which in fact had been his original vision. By the time it opened in New York in 1990, the gay theme was solidly entrenched.

The journey of the show to find its sexual identity mirrored that of its author. “At the time we were raising money to bring it to New York, I was dealing with my own issues,” he noted, “my own bisexuality. Basically, I was on the fence, flip-flopping. I was engaged and working a lot as an actor, touring in ‘42nd Street.’ Basically, it meant I was always going out of town--which kept my mind off all of this.”

By the time the five-character musical had been rewritten and optioned again for its 1990 New York run, Mellon, 38, had split with his fiancee and settled into a relationship with actor Kevin Bailey, who toured Europe in the lead role of “The Phantom of the Opera.” In 1991, he and Bailey were married (“a very traditional, beautiful ceremony with 50 guests, including our families”), and now are appearing together in this play.

In the show, “Kevin doesn’t play anyone like himself,” Mellon said. The story brings together four friends--two ex-lovers and a married couple--when their composer friend dies. “Kevin is very comfortable with himself. But his character, a gay lawyer, is extremely homophobic, and has a hard time accepting his homosexuality.”

Mellon himself plays the dead character who appears via flashbacks. He has done the role in all but one of the musical’s incarnations.

“You get told so often in this business, ‘Don’t try to do it all, wear all the hats,’ ” he said, referring to his multiple duties with the show. “But I like being this involved. The New York experience was mostly an unhappy experience--we got mixed reviews and ran for a few months--but it taught me a lot.” Mellon’s proximity to the material has also helped clarify his vision of the play: “I realized it’s not about being with a man or being with a woman. It’s not about what sex you choose, but what person. “

In that way, he believes his play differs from other recent shows that have focused on gay themes.

“Many of them deal with homosexuality as self-loathing,” said Mellon, who attended Catholic grade school, high school and college in his native Philadelphia. “And it is important to bring that up. A good chunk of my young life was about self-loathing, self-doubts, never feeling I could be as good as everyone else.” In comparing the genders, he says, “in this show, though, I try not to show the differences but the similarities. When you break everything down, it comes to one basic thing: love.”

Co-producer Cheryl Fluehr, who became involved with the show during its San Francisco run (when it was titled “The Dreamer and the Runner”), optioned the piece when its original option ran out--and when it was still about a straight relationship. “I remember standing in James’ kitchen in New York, him telling me he was rewriting it to be a gay love story,” she mused, “and I dropped my cookies. Sure enough, I lost my partner, I lost my financing.”

In spite of those initial grim signals, Fluehr has been gratified by audience reaction to the show.

“We’re like the little train that could,” she said. “I’m so glad James is directing; it’s wonderful to have his vision up there 100%, do the show the way we want it. And I’ve never seen people so uninhibited about responding: laughing, crying, on their feet consistently. It’s very cathartic. I don’t think there’s a single thing James writes about that isn’t universal, that you couldn’t relate to your mother, your child, your lover, your spouse--anyone.”

“An Unfinished Song” plays at 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays at the Tiffany Theatre, 8532 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, indefinitely. Admission: $22 . 50 to $24.50. Call (310) 289-2999.