The West Coast premiere of writer/composer Mark Sonnenblick’s “Midnight at the Never Get” comes five years after the cabaret show was first on Diversionary Theatre’s radar.
Then-artistic director Matt Morrow had reached out to Stephen Brotebeck of San Diego State’s School of Theatre, Television, and Film about directing a production of the 2018 show, which is set in a hidden gay bar in Greenwich Village in 1965. Brotebeck had just directed the Todd Almond/Matthew Sweet musical “Girlfriend” at Diversionary.
Then COVID hit.
So it was last year, when Brotebeck was winding up his role as Diversionary’s interim artistic director, that “We were looking at programming this current (2024-25) season and this was one of the first shows I brought up,” he said. “I was so taken by the intimacy of the show and by this love story that’s set against the rise of the gay rights movement and the political turmoil of the ‘60s that was happening.
“There are very few shows this intimate that also pack a punch,” said Brotebeck, who is now interim artistic director of SDSU’s Theatre, Television, and Film School. “The way that this show does has always stayed with me.”
“Midnight at the Never Get,” which Sonnenblick conceived along with Sam Bolen and Max Friedman, features a cabaret singer, Trevor, and his piano accompanist, Arthur, who share not only a stage but a complex romantic history. In between performances of numbers that bring to mind the Great American Songbook and composers like Cole Porter are some revealing monologues from Trevor.
“Trevor is a super raw human, and there’s so much happening in his head,” said Bryan Banville, who’s playing the character at Diversionary. “He’s sharing this story of himself and the man that he loves. I think what drew me to Trevor is his overall passion for music and performance. Then to layer on top of that the time period — in New York City right around when a lot was happening for individuals who were part of what we now term the LGBTQ community.
“Trevor and Arthur (played by Diversionary newcomer Cody Bianchi) have decided to create this nightclub act that is about them. It was dangerous. They were risking being put in prison, risking potentially being injured. There’s an interesting dichotomy between the facade they have to put on in public spaces but when they’re on their home turf, if you will, they get to be who they really are.”
Brotebeck agreed about the real danger Trevor and Arthur would have faced, even performing in a back-room club.
“To be singing about another man and about how much you love that other man was completely subversive at that time,” he said, “but also an important part of the gay rights movement. For those who don’t know this history, it’s important for new generations to see how hard fought that was.”
The director has high praise for his costars.
“Bryan evokes this period so well and approaches the role with so much compassion and strength in understanding that ideal romantic who’s always looking for the best in people,” he said. “Cody has to not only sing and act but play. This isn’t a case where someone is at the piano, playing just a few chords. He’s literally playing and leading the entire (onstage) band while also playing a major character.”
This is the third Diversionary show for Banville, who previously performed in “Significant Other” in 2019 and two years ago in “The Mystery of Irma Vep.” Around San Diego theaters, he is known as an actor as comfortable in musicals, where he began his career, as he is in plays.
“This show (‘Midnight at the Never Get’) for me is a perfect marriage of both,” Banville said.
‘Midnight at the Never Get’
When: Now in previews through Nov. 1. Opens Nov. 2 and runs through Nov. 17. 7 p.m. Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays
Where: Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Blvd., University Heights
Tickets: $10-$70
Phone: 619-220-0097
Online: diversionary.org