Rock musical memoir ‘Lucky Man’ at NYC’s Gene Frankel Theatre

For more than half a century, actor, singer, musician, director, writer, educator and founder of the eponymous TGW Acting Studio, regarded as one of the best in NYC, Thomas G. Waites (b. 1955) has had a noted career on the stage and screen, but his journey hasn’t always been easy. In his autobiographical rock monologue Lucky Man – A Warrior’s Journey, now playing a limited Off-Off-Broadway engagement at the Gene Frankel Theatre, he interweaves original songs and stories to share a deeply personal and revealing account of his wild rise to fame, devastating fall from glory, alcoholic crash, and transformative path to redemption, in a funny, raw, and engaging exposé of how he got to the top, what he did wrong, and how he’s been able to fix it.

Actively directed by Joe Danisi and backed by his meaningfully named mellifluous folk-rock band Heartbreak Waites – music director Tony Daniels on lead guitar, Cedric Allen Hills on keyboard, percussion, and vocals, and Annie McGovern on vocals – the expressive Waites, now 21 years sober, energetically moves around the intimate black box stage, talking, singing, playing guitar and harmonica, sitting and kneeling, jumping around and dancing, on a set (by Elle Kunnos de Voss) that recreates a small club, with a central cabaret table and chair, the band directly behind, glasses and bottles of wine and liquor, an upstage curtain, and quotations from the works in which he appeared in white letters on the side walls and floor. It’s all presented in direct address to the audience, with unbridled emotion, self-deprecating humor, and direct eye contact, never failing to draw us into his real-life experiences and feelings of elation, pain, soul-searching, hope, and healing, enhanced with lighting (by John Narun) that shifts with the moods.

Following a pre-show set of instrumental numbers by the band, Waites enters from the side aisle, playing his guitar and singing, then launches into his compelling storytelling of the key episodes of his life, beginning with his famed roles in two cult classics, The Warriors (1979) and The Thing (1982), the dozens of other notable films, TV series, and theatrical productions in which he was cast (including American Buffalo with Al Pacino), and the luminaries he worked with, who gave him their kindness and support, inspiration and friendship (among them, Pacino, John Heard, Kurt Russell, John Carpenter, Jackson Browne, Debbie Harry, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, and John Goodman, who served as a producer of Lucky Man, in association with Evan Azriliant, 24 Bond Arts Center, and Without a Net Productions) – each remembered with a telling anecdote about their distinctive demeanors, his interactions with them, and the impact they had on him (no spoilers here; go to the show and hear Waites’ own lively and cherished reminiscences).

He also discusses his birth in Levittown, PA (a suburb of Philadelphia), his childhood nickname of “Mr. Know-It-All” (inspiring his song “I’m Not a Know-It-All After All”), his acceptance into and expulsion from the Drama Division of NYC’s Julliard School, his firing from The Warriors and request to exclude his name from the credits after having issues with the film’s director, his growing dependence on alcohol, and regretful dismissal of his hard-working, successful, and nurturing talent agent Jeff Hunter. And he takes us through his first meeting, evolving relationship, marriage, two children, divorce, estrangement, reunion, and another painful break-up with his ex-wife, whom he still loves.

His open and honest confessions are interspersed with songs that embrace his deeply held sentiments, and his owning up to the many times he “fucked up,” before seeking help for his alcohol addiction through a 12-step program with AA in 2004, and employing the uplifting power of perseverance, love, friendship, forgiveness, and performance to find redemption and to transform his life and career.

The highly entertaining and affecting Lucky Man, which closed with the positive titular number, is a must-see for fans of the sincere, multi-talented, and likeable Thomas G. Waites, theatergoers who appreciate a fast-paced delivery of a significant human theme through songs and stories, and anyone dealing with similar problems. It will not only make you laugh, think, and feel, it can help you heal, like he did.

Running Time: Approximately 80 minutes, without intermission.