Rock rivals

THAT BOY by Paul Gibson, directed by Karen Turner, with James Downing and Gibson. Presented by Gibstein Productions at the Robert Gill (214 College). July 3 at 7:30 pm, July 5 at 5 pm, July 6 at 12:30 pm, July 7 and 12 at 9:30 pm, July 9 at 11:30 pm, July 10 at 2 pm.

ever been bothered in a musical when characters break into song out of nowhere? What if the people onstage were songwriters, and the switch from speech to song were part of their everyday lives?

That’s part of the impulse behind That Boy, Paul Gibson’s play with music that copped a slot in the Fringe as winner of this year’s new-script award.

The characters are Rik and Dave, writer/musicians who work with a pop-rock diva (think Amanda Marshall, Sarah McLachlan or Alanis Morissette) and are trying to come up with a new hit for her. The trick is, Dave used to be her boyfriend and band partner, while Rik now sits in that same comfy chair.

“I’m intrigued by the notion of doubles,” confides Gibson, an actor and mu.sician who’s part of kids’ entertainers the Stylamanders. “These guys are lovers of the same woman, and it’s not surprising that they have a lot in common.

“Though Dave is the romantic bad boy who believes in artistic passion, and the more earnest Rik is always trying to do the right thing, they’re sides of the same coin. Since they have a facility with language, they use the songwriting collaboration to explore the lyrics’ subtext and advance their own personal agendas.”

As they write, the two engage in a romantic duel – the show’s been called a cross between Spinal Tap and Othello – using music and words as double-edged weapons. The show’s songs, which we hear mostly in snippets, reveal character and advance the action.

“And because Dave likes to move around when he composes, like Mick Jagger or Jim Morrison, we’re in the land of realistically based singing and dancing.”

The comedy comes partly from the fact that they take themselves seriously as rock musicians and think they can control their art.

“But there’s really a magical muse they can’t control,” laughs Gibson. “Each thinks he’s the master of that muse, but she takes over and, through the songwriting, shows them their true identities.”

Maybe, in fact, the unnamed, unseen pop diva is a version of the muse.

“In some way they always evoke her, as the prize as well as the witness of their duel,” agrees Gibson. “On several levels she’s the bridge for the song they’re creating.”

JK