The Off-Broadway Theatre Review: Gabe Mollica‘s Solo: A Show About Friendship

By Dennis W.

There are those moments in your life when it’s time to just take stock. To ask. How far have we come or have we moved forward at all? I found myself at the Connelly Theater on East 4th Street in the East Village somewhat unprepared to do just that. I don’t know what it was I expecting, but it definitely wasn’t an introspective look at the seminal events of a life lived. Gabe Mollica’s no-stone-unturned SOLO: A SHOW ABOUT FRIENDSHIP hits one of those fascinating moments, when it’s time to relive all those pesky emotions that got him where he is today. Caught there, he tells us, “I turned 30 and realized I had no friends.” Gabe then proceeds to take us through the events of his life that brought him to this epiphany, mainly that he feels he is missing having some guy friends, even though, in reality, he has his bros. Shouldn’t that be enough?

Dressed in a dark shirt and slacks wearing sneakers with his tousled hair and scruffy beard he takes us on a journey. The writer and performer starts off by talking about his close relationship with his mother and that she has been in the hospital.  “She’s fine,” he says, “thanks for asking” and we are off. Mollica has a quiet, unassuming demeanor that ushers us along as he slips through his stories of growing up on Long Island, band camp, his love for Stephen Sondheim, musical theater, college, and summer jobs. We also hear about the people in his life; the best friend from college, the girlfriends, and the bros he hangs with now. But inside this show, as directed by Greg Walloch (Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King), he’s searching for something else, or maybe more. Something called “friends.” Now, why does he believe he doesn’t have any?

Mollica is a storyteller and some of his stories are a bit complicated and, at times, heart-wrenching but the audience is here for every moment. His unique style did make me want to give him a hug from time to time during his emotionally challenging circumstances. Molica also has some wild surprises like when he said the government should have asked his mother to find Bin Laden. Why? Mothers can find anything… from terrorists to sunglasses. In the middle of what may sound like a rambling story, he’ll slip in a laugh-out-loud joke that the audience doesn’t see coming until they are already laughing.  Mollica’s sharp wit did eventually uncover the root of friendship as he relives all the twists, turns, stumbles, and tears of what he sees as lost friendships. But in the end, Molica has a surprising revelation; that he is not going to go through life solo.