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Home > Around Town > The way we were
The way we were
In the Civic’s Buyer & Cellar, a struggling actor meets his ido
By Eddie Torres
Fort Wayne Reader
2018-03-16
 Alex More is slowly waking up from his Hollywood dreams. A struggling actor in LA, he’s recently been fired from Disneyland, and winds up in an unusual and unlikely gig — the curator of Barbara Streisand’s basement. More is a huge fan of Babs, but it’s a long while before his idol finally make her way downstairs. The two strike up a relationship that gradually goes from fascinating to frustrating for More, and the struggling actor learns about the price of fame and the bounds of “friendship.”
The comedy by Jonathan Tolins made its debut in 2013. The conceit is that Alex is telling his story to his boyfriend Barry, a screenwriter, who is far less awestruck of Babs. It’s a one-man show, with AJ Lorenzini, who plays Alex More, also taking the part of Babs and Barry.
There’s a grain of truth to the set-up — supposedly underneath Streisand’s property in Malibu is an enormous basement filled with stuff. In Buyer & Cellar, More tells us everything is displayed in a series of rooms that are supposed to look like shops. “Barbra’s basement is just like any other mall,” he says, “except for the total lack of customers or employees.”
While the play’s humor (of the “just this short of snarky” variety) earned Buyer & Cellar a lot of attention and praise during its initial runs in New York and elsewhere (including several awards), it’s the balance of More’s idol-worship and Barry’s cynicism that makes the story more than just a “joke-fest,” giving it an emotional weight that lingers after the punch lines.
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Fort Wayne Civic Theater presents Buyer & Cellar
Parkview Physicians Group ArtsLab
300 E. Main Street
Rated R
Fridays, March 16 and 23 at 8 pm
Saturdays, March 17 and 24 at 8 pm
Sundays, March 18 and 25 at 2 pm
Tickets: $26 Adults; $22 Seniors; $10 Age 23 and under
Available at the ArtsTix Box Office
303 E. Main Street
Online at fwcivic.org
Or call (260) 424-5220
Box Office Hours
Monday-Friday
Noon to 6 PM
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