Southern Comfort ***

Kate Davis’s 2001 documentary of the same title is an extremely moving film about Robert Eads, a female-to-male transgender person dying, ironically, of ovarian cancer in rural Georgia, surrounded by his mostly transgender friends. Robert Dusold and Thomas Caruso have conceived the work for the stage, with music by Julianne Wick Davis and book and lyrics by Dan Collins. During his final year of life Eads (Annette O’Toole) finds true love with Lola Cola, (Jeff McCarthy) a tall transexual who has not yet committed to hormones or surgery. Jackson (Jeff Kuhn) is a younger F-to-M who has been friends with Robert for 10 years and regards him as his spiritual father. Sam (Donnie Cianciotto), another F-to-M transexual, and Melanie (Robin Skye), a biological woman, are a devoted couple who are also friends of Robert’s. Carly (Aneesh Sheth) is a sexy M-to-F transexual who is currently seeing Jackson. Four of the five musicians (David M. Lutken, Lizzie Hagstedt, Joel Waggoner and Elizabeth Ward Land) also sing and step into the action to play secondary characters such as Robert’s parents and Jackson’s father.  (David Morse, the pianist, does not.) Southern Comfort is the name of the annual transgender event in Atlanta that Robert and his friends regularly attend. While the book is mostlly faithful to the essentials of the film, it makes things a bit more schematic. As I am not a fan of country/bluegrass music, I did not really enjoy the score. To my ears, much of the music seemed monotonous and repetitive. The present Public Theater production features the same cast as the 2011 CAP 21 version except for Cianciotto and Sheth who are transgendered. The song list is almost identical too. The rustic set by James J. Fenton is dominated by a large tree filled with boxes of tchotchkes a la Joseph Cornell. Patricia Doherty’s costumes are spot-on. Thomas Caruso’s direction is seamless. The entire cast, especially O’Toole and McCarthy, are excellent. Although, for me, the music did not really enhance the story, it is still a moving and timely tale that I am glad will be seen by new audiences. I highly recommend renting the film too. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes including intermission.

Drop Dead Perfect **

Last year’s sold-out production of this camp melodrama by Erasmus Fenn (a pseudonym) was a Critic’s Pick by both the Times and Time Out. That information plus the prospect of seeing Everett Quinton of Ridiculous Theatrical Company fame again raised my expectations high for the current revival at Theatre at St. Clements. Too high, it turns out. While this overwrought tale of Idris Seabright (Quinton), a wealthy woman in the Florida Keys has its madcap moments, they are too few and far between.

While Quentin gets to wear a parade of knockout 50’s outfits, he doesn’t get enough opportunity to really show off his plummy acting chops. Jason Edward Cook is delightful as Idris’s ward Vivien who yearns to leave the Keys to find her way as an artist in Greenwich Village. (It wasn’t until I read my program afterwards that I realized Vivien was played by a man.) Timothy C. Goodwin is solid in the dual roles of narrator and Idris’s pill-pushing attorney who has his eye on Vivien. The sudden arrival from Cuba of the studly Ricardo (Jason Cruz) sets the overly complicated plot in motion. Ricardo is the son of Idris’s sister Lucy and Ricardo Sr. (Lucy and Ricky, get it?), who ditched Idris for her sister.

Cruz gets a non-frontal nude moment and a shirtless scene with ludicrously stuffed boxer shorts. The interior of a cozy Florida cottage of the 50’s is captured well in James J. Fenton’s attractive set. Charlotte Palmer-Lane’s period costumes are a hoot. William Neal’s sound design cleverly incorporates portentous clips from 50’s movies. Joe Brancato directed. It’s all very silly, but not quite silly enough. Running time: 85 minutes, no intermission.