Out of Utah.

Confessions of a Mormon Boy * SoHo Playhouse, New York City * Open-ended run

Confessions of a Mormon Boy tells the true coming-out story of its writer-actor, Steven Fales, a native of Provo, Utah. The one-man, one-act play follows Fales from his early childhood memories of singing in church, to marrying a woman whose closeted gay father died of AIDS complications, to fathering two children, to finally selling sex for money in some of New York's finest penthouses. Punctuated with singing, passages from the Book of Mormon, and caricatured voices that range from a female Mormon psychotherapist to an offensive rendition of a Japanese businessman, the play is alternately funny and sad--and at its best moments, both. Confessions is mostly an animated presentation of answers to questions such as when Fales first realized he was gay and whether he still is a faithful Mormon. But it is also a self-examination about accepting responsibility. Rather than blame his community or church, Fales sees his struggles as the result of his own obsessive desire to fit in and be accepted, whether by his Mormon "brothers and sisters" or his wealthy tricks. Though a bit longer than needed, with a few moments of questionable taste, the play is nevertheless an honest and fascinating (if unsurprising) glimpse into one Mormon boy's life.