MY OWN PRIVATE DIVA

By Terry Dobson
Theatre Three

Directed By Jac Alder
Special Musical Arrangements by Stan Graner


CAST

Terry Dobson and Sally Soldo

I'll let you in on a little secret; I have a really bad case of short attention span syndrome, which is not a great thing to have when it comes to theater. How many part time theater critics would admit that publicly- I ask you?

When I sit in the dark and watch a show, it has to both visually and emotionally grab me by the head immediately & force me to concentrate on what is going onstage. Think of that contraption they used in the film CLOCKWORK ORANGE on Malcolm McDowell & you'll get the idea.

Exposition, emotions, and the plot of a play or musical has to act like a blinding, glittery bauble in front of me to hold my attention, "Oooo shiny!" That goes for the same in its costuming, scenic design, and lighting.

If there is way too much exposition or long-winded, drawn out speeches-well my brain starts to slowly melt into numbness and all systems start shutting down. I hate that about myself, and over the last couple of years I've gotten better, but it still happens.

However, if the emotion, writing, and talent on stage are glowing with energy, truth, and excitement - well I'm alert, awake, & completely focused on what is transpiring on stage.

This leads me to Theatre Three's current offering, MY OWN PRIVATE DIVA which premiered last night to a packed house of local theater stars, directors, and others in the DFW entertainment industry.

A two-person show in a small, intimate cabaret setting with a small spray of lights and only a piano on stage. For someone like me that is swimming in short attention span syndrome-this could spell disaster. Two hours later I left with my heart full of love, respect, and compassion for its two stars and the piece itself.

Terry Dobson serves as the Resident Musical Director for Theatre Three, a position he has held since 1980. He has performed in many productions there as well as an actor. Just last year he earned a Column Award nomination for Best Actor for his marvelous performance in DIRTY BLONDE. I also a have a personal connection with Mr. Dobson as he was my musical director for the regional premiere of Michael LaChusia's THE WILD PARTY.

Last month he accepted my offer to be the musical Director for The Column Awards Gala, playing and conducting a special RENT number with Broadway star Anthony Rapp. Suffice to say I know the man that well. I take that back, I thought I knew he him that well.

MPOD is a personal, intensely private journey into Dobson's life, from his birth in Slapout Alabama all the way to his current life as one of the most highly respected, beloved, and treasured artists in the DFW metroplex theater community. 

The book alone is a mixture of laughter, sadness, joy, pain, loneliness, tears, and deep, personal revelations that bring out all the many emotional colors that paint Dobson's canvas of his life.

The comedy in the piece is hilarious, hilarious, hilarious! Who knew Dobson was a comedic genius at writing! Throughout the evening the laughter grew so high in volume that I'm sure people 20 blocks down could hear this ear shattering laughter coming from Theatre Three.
Dobson takes his audience on a rip-roaring trip regarding his family, his life in a small Southern town, being a good Baptist boy in church, his college days, and so on.

He holds nothing back, in one hysterical monologue he explains his addiction to church music and chocolate, and in another on how he lost his virginity.

Dobson holds the audience like a skilled magician who has put a spell on everyone with his brilliant writing and acting. His comedic timing, pace, and delivery are matched in perfect sync with his facial expressions. There are so many gut busting, laugh till you almost pee scenes and monologues that I honestly don't know which ones to choose from.  There are his problems with foreign languages, his travels to Russia and New York, his mother, and so on.

He also gives us his personal accounts on working with everyone from Toni Tennille to Victoria Jackson. I knew Terry and I had a bond when he revealed he played Moonface Martin in ANYTHING GOES.  We Moonies always need to stick together!

However, when Dobson takes us into his personal, most intimate parts of his life is where the piece has its soul and compassion.  He reveals in a mixture of great humor and dramatic intensity the night he was attacked by a teen and when he lost his apartment to a fire. 

Then there are the emotional, painful, heart breaking monologues involving the loss of his father and his lover that had many in the audience (including myself) choking back tears. He reveals to the audience with pride and defiance his HIV status, wearing it like a strong soldier displaying his badge of courage and survival.

As the voice in his head, he has with him on stage one of Theatre Three's dazzling stars, Sally Soldo, or as I like to call her, "The first lady of voice at Theatre Three". Soldo has a voice that I never grow tired of hearing. A glorious, crystal clean soprano that requires no body mic to belt to the back of the house, but then she can also sing the softest note. She can sing the entire Denny's menu and make it sound like a Tony Award winning score.

She portrays on stage the various people that come and go in Dobson's life. She becomes with a simple costume change everyone from Dobson's mother, to various friends, to the woman whom he lost his virginity to. Soldo even plays in one scene Artistic Director Jac Alder!

Soldo sings a plethora of songs from the Broadway history songbook, and here is why I am such a fan and admirer of Ms. Soldo. She is that very rare songbird that can reach into your heart and pull tears when she sings those haunting ballads and torch songs. But then turns around & has you guffawing with those great comedic numbers as well. I still consider her rendition of "Ladies who Lunch" when she did COMPANY at Theatre Three the best I've ever seen that Sondheim classic ever done.

Official Hotel of The Column Awards

Official Cake Designer of The Column Awards

Official Caterer of The Column Awards