‘Older Man’s’ Charm Drowns in Drama

Playwright Bill Crowe states in the program notes that “The Older Man You Always Wanted,” at the Cast Theater, doesn’t have a message. It’s “simply meant to be an entertainment.”

Yet with the seemingly prerequisite shirt-doffing and some brief moments of derriere flashing, it barely manages to be even that.

As this particular “older” man, Jim J. Bullock wrings what little humor there is in this meager piece, which is amazingly stuffed with tired old cliches for its short duration. Of course, the Village People figure in the sound design. Crowe manages to include Liza and Barbra in throwaway lines.

Allen Sullivan (Bullock) is an “anger-holic,” and he proceeds to tell us how he became one. He replays his life story--his brother’s (Greg Zarian) freak-accident death, his mother’s (April Adams) revelation about his father (J. Robert Prete), his commitment ceremony with his virile Italian American lover (Tony Rado) who soon dies of AIDS, his search for spiritual meaning, his sessions with a shrink (Adams), his reconciliation with his parents, and his search for good sex and a new love. As artlessly connected as these episodes are, even all of Bullock’s charm can’t carry this piece. It sags, drenched under the indulgent melodramatics of each tear-jerking scenario.

Crowe’s humor ranges from swishy to snide, and director Carl Peoples can’t ease the abrupt transitions from swish to sadly serious.

*

* “The Older Man You Always Wanted,” Cast Theatre, 800 N. El Centro Ave., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends May 7. $20. (323) 462-0265. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.