By Bart Greenberg***The very handsome Claybourne Elder describes himself as an “ex-Mormon gay dad” and spoke openly of these aspects of his life in his show at 54Below celebrating the release of his first s
olo album, If the Stars Were Mine. Not only did he display a terrific Broadway-quality voice, but also a great sense of humor and a passionate nature.With his music director-pianist Rodney Bush, he took the audience on a beautifully-planned program going from sheer silliness to serious matters.
As a youngster Elder was mesmerized by the far-off city of New York, mostly because in his restrictive religious upbringing: it had been labeled “evil”. So, he declared “I Want to Be Evil” (Raymond Taylor, Lester Judson) in a hot piano arrangement. His early discovery of his gayness was reflected in his assertion that Mormon Jesus was both a “daddy” and a “twink” (yes, he didn’t hold back on the subject of sex). His beautiful yearning for love was expressed in his delivery of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” (George Merrill, Shannon Rubicam) and his desire to escape was well 
captured in “Part of Your World” (Alan Menken, Howard Ashman) But the highlight of the early part of evening was his “Moments in the Woods” (Stephen Sondheim), reflecting his first kiss in Paris while there on a school program.
Before Elder moved on to more personal issues, he offered up a most unusual version of “The Street Where You Live” (Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe); it was beautifully sung with high notes sailing easily away, but also delivered from the perspective of a very creepy predator (“Every Breath You Take” (Sting) kept intruding). This was terrific entertainment.
More personal, and very touching was Elder’s tale of becoming a dad via surrogacy, including “Hey Kid” (Tom Kitt, Brian Yorkey), an emotional highlight. In contrast, he returned to his own childhood to confess a youthful crush on The ThunderCats animated series, and a desire to shower with “Han Solo” (Will Aronson, Bill Nelson), a wry, funny tale. Continuing to 
surprise the audience, he produced a violin to beautifully accompanying himself on “Lonesome Goodbye” (Chris Stapleton, Mike Henderson). And then Sondheim entered the picture.
A detailed story about how he discovered the works of Sondheim—the generosity of a stranger, and the magic of the theater followed. The recounting was very moving and a fine demonstration of his impressive acting talent as well. Two extensive theater numbers followed: “Finishing the Hat” from Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park With George, and “How Glory Goes” from Adam Guettel’s Floyd Collins.
If there was any flaw in the show, it was how locked the star remained to the mic, standing center stage, rather than using the entire space. But this issue ultimately didn’t interfere with the fine dramatic arc of the evening: Elder’s magnetism and humor overrode the static quality.
Photos by Bart Greenberg
