THE HANGOVER REPORT – In TA-DA!, Josh Sharp existentially expounds on coming out and a near death experienc via Power Point slides

Josh Sharp in “ta-da!” at the Greenwich House Theater (photo by Emilio Madrid).

This week, Josh Sharp’s ta-da! opened Off-Broadway at the Greenwich House Theater. In essence, Sharp’s new show is a playful yet rigorous solo turn along the lines of Carl Holder’s Out of Order, another autobiographical one man show that allows its subject — the performer themselves — to existentially take stock and process the current state of their lives through the framework of an overarching theatrical “gimmick”.  In ta-da!’s case, this comes in the form of exactly two thousand Power Point slides — used as visual storytelling aids — which Sharp clicks through over the course of eighty minutes as his personal narrative unfolds.

Thematically, the show has been divided into three smoothly-integrated segments, the first one dealing with Sharp’s childhood and budding sexuality, which ultimately culminates in his coming out story. This segues nicely into the second portion of the evening, in which he lovingly recounts his mother’s valiant bout with ovarian cancer (during her final stretch alive, she all but bullied him into coming out). Still on the topic of mortality, the show finishes with an account of Sharp’s recent near-death experience while on vacation in Mexico with his boyfriend (no spoilers here!).

Thankfully, Sharp — immensely intelligent and personable in his own nerdy manner — is a compellingly articulate guide throughout, confidently and effortlessly riffing through the cascading flow of slides with astonishing variety and ingenuity. It’s an amusing feat to behold, and only very rarely did the format become somewhat tedious. The production has been directed by Sam Pinkerton with the same kind of sharpness and deceptive attention to detail that brought him home the Tony for his work on Oh, Mary! Suffice to say, in ta-da!, both Sharp and Pinkleton have pulled off a uniquely entertaining sleight of hand.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

TA-DA!
Comedy / Off-Broadway, Play
Greenwich House Theater
1 hour, 20 minutes (without an intermission)
Through August 23

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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