Tonally it’s all over the place and its lackluster title is unlikely to prove a box-office draw, but Greg Vie’s autobiographical The Direction Home works for the most part as a nostalgic, touching coming-of-age comedy set in WeHo only a few years before the music died.

It’s 1979 and college friends turned aspiring actors Brad (an appealing Vaughan Eells), Ted (force-of-nature Amir Levi), and Stephen (Jacob Barnes, understated perfection) are toasting their move into a two-bedroom cottage in beautiful, not-yet-a-city West Hollywood.

In time-honored TV-sitcom tradition, it’s hard to imagine three more disparate flatmates than blond-and-built Brad, screaming queen Ted, and shy, repressed Stephen, and since four’s a crowd, neither Ted nor Stephen are all that happy to learn that Brad has invited his ex-girlfriend Katie (Emilie Martz, the loveliest of Farrah Fawcett-tressed charmers) to move in with them, three-person lease be damned.

Completing The Direction Home’s cast of real-life-inspired characters is tall, dark, and handsome neighbor Michael (a delightfully full-of-himself Chris Ciccarelli), riding high after his shirtless Mustang commercial earned him enough residuals to pay for a year’s worth of rent, with fictional dumb blonde Mimi (Claire Glassford, reinventing the cliche) peppering the already spicy mix of friends whose lives we’ll follow as early spring turns to late summer.

Comedic scenes involving mismatched friends and roommates allow director Kiff Scholl and his talented cast to score more than a few laughs, with added points awarded to Ted and a mile-long phone cord, Ted and a set of tumblers, and Ted and a sweatshirt that won’t come off. (Kudos to Levi for acing the physical comedy demands of each.)

Add to that anything involving Eells in various states of mouth-watering underdress (from crop top to torso-revealing towel) and you’ve got eye-candy galore for those with a taste for muscular men, and for those who prefer female curves, Martz in her Dukes Of Hazzard short shorts is likely to do the same.

Vie’s characters are nothing less than multifaceted, from Brad (a hetero hunk not above using his power over men to get what he wants) to Ted (who despite making Paul Lynde and Charles Nelson Reilly seem straight is about as far into denial as denial gets) to Stephen (who’s got a medical secret to hide and another more personal one he’s not yet ready to admit) to Katie (who may seem as sunny as her native Iowa on a bright spring day but has her own demons to battle).

Another plus, at least for those whose memories go back far enough, are references to gay icons Lynde, Rock Hudson, and “the second Darrin on Bewitched,”  TV physicians Dr. Kildare, Marcus Welby, and Ben Casey, and a litany of Hollywood Boulevard stars.

Oh, and a full-cast sing along to a lesser known song from the Judy Garland Star is Born remake is a hoot.

Unfortunately, a little of the loud, obnoxious Ted goes a long, long way, especially since it’s never made clear why Brad and Stephen put up with this “condescending bitter old Queen.” (Katie’s words, but I couldn’t have said it better.)

Transitions from heightened-reality sitcom to subtly rendered drama prove more jarring than organic as sequences involving the in-denial flamer clash with lower-key moments like The Direction Home’s most effective and affecting scene, one that has Barnes’ Stephen and Martz’s Katie sharing secrets they’ve kept hidden far too long.

Intimate theater production designs don’t get much better than The Direction Home’s ’70s-perfect design, from scenic designer Adam Haas Hunter and properties designer Jenine MacDonald’s deliciously kitchy WeHo cottage to Mylette Nora’s fabulous costumes to Lauren Wemischner’s expert lighting (including a particularly devastating strobe effect) to Jesse Mandapat’s disco-licious sound design. (Bee Gees, Donna Summer, and Barry Manilow fans will rejoice.) And last but not least, wig and makeup designer Shelia Dorn gives each character a distinctively ‘70s look.

The Direction Home is produced by Racquel Lehrman, Theatre Planners. Misha Riley, Theatre Planners is assistant producer. Seira Murakami is production stage manager. Scholl is dramaturg.

With more seamless transitions from comedy to drama, a pizzazzier title, and a less abrasive Ted, The Direction Home could end up having legs beyond its World Premiere debut. Even as is, you’ll likely have fun spending time with its mostly engaging characters and celebrate its playwright/protagonist’s journey towards self-acceptance and love.

Let Live Theatre @ The Actors Company, 916A N. Formosa Ave., West Hollywood.
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–Steven Stanley
July 20, 2019
Photos: Ed Krieger

Tags: Greg Vie, Los Angeles Theater Review, The Actor's Company