The University of Alabama’s Department of Theatre and Dance is set to perform the 1999 Tony Award-winning play “Side Man” by Warren Leight.
“Side Man,” directed by Stacy Alley, assistant professor of musical theatre and dance, recounts the life of the main character, Clifford Glimmer. The play relates his life before he was born, highlighting how his parents’ relationship developed and devolved in accordance with the jazz industry.
“Side Man” is a memory play, meaning the characters bounce back between the present and the past, between the 1950s and the 1980s. Clifford is the narrator of the play, giving voice to these events as they happen.
“It’s a memory play from Clifford’s perspective, watching the characters around him as their lives unfold. He’s watching his parents’ relationship and the demise of it,” said sophomore Jacob Valleroy, who plays Clifford in the play. “He’s watching the decline of jazz as it happens around him and the effect it has on his family.”
While the cast has been in their roles for seven weeks now, Valleroy said the character of Clifford was initially difficult to take on.
“It was overwhelming in the beginning, but I’ve put my heart and soul in it, and working with the cast has been really reassuring,” Valleroy said. “The character was a challenge in the beginning, getting into the rhythm of narrating the show and acting, getting into the flow of talking to the audience and then pulling back into the scene.”
Clifford’s father, Gene, is a jazz trumpet player. As the jazz industry falls, Clifford’s parents’ relationship dissipates as his alcoholic mother, Terry, degenerates into insanity.
“It does have some comedic elements, but it is a lot more dramatic,” said senior Michael Luwoye, who plays the character Jonesy.
While the play may depict the hardships of the jazz industry as it was replaced with other genres of music, Luwoye says that the play mostly honors the industry and the difficulties it faced.
“We really don’t have a lot of shows that honor genres of music the way this one does,” Luwoye said.
Luwoye said while the play has many musical elements and is based around jazz, it is in no way a musical.
“I think that music sort of matches the content of the play because jazz is a very complex genre, and the show is also complex,” Luwoye said. “The content of the play is also sharper than in other shows.”
“Side Man” will be shown in the Marian Galloway Theatre Oct. 15-20 at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a showing on Oct. 21 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults, $12 for students and $15 for faculty, staff and seniors.
