SAY CHEESE at The Actors Art Theater

CRITIC’S PICK

Reviewed by Brad Schreiber

Phil Johnson has the most engrossing eyebrows in showbiz. He’s also got a helluva singing voice, energy to burn, and a lunatic story punctuated by bursts of spasmodic, hysterical movement. So when he decides to Say Cheese, it is decidedly bigger than life.

That’s also an apt description for the pompous, hyperkinetic, knighted, theatre- of- the- cheesily- absurd director who, as he recounts it, once auditioned Phil and several other unfortunate actors for an improvisational production. In telling this tall tale, Johnson wisely brings us back into his own persona, as far as any reviewer may be able to tell, just enough to anchor the antics, which include such dictatorial dictums as ‘I want insemination!’ when the actors don’t give him what he wants. “Peel, my little onions, peel,’ was another directorial exhortation which sent the audience sideways.

Johnson startles us with his poignant yet polished version of ‘When My Ship Comes In,’ a lyrical break from the multi-character mayhem and one which we almost wish would lead into another song. The boy has Broadway chops and credits to boot, and the vision he conjures up of a totally bent, sort of sci-fi surrealistic improv musical puts a fitting capper on this force of nature and his material, co-written and directed by artistic director Jolene Adams.