Sugar Daddy Review – We Don’t Do Evolution

Sam Morrison in SUGAR DADDY - Photo by Jason Williams
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When writer/actor/comedian Sam Morrison first hopped on the stage at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to present SUGAR DADDY, he was a huge hit and quickly became an audience favorite. Then he moved to off-Broadway’s Soho Playhouse and had the same reception; in fact, his show was extended three times and received Out Critics Circle and Off Broadway Alliance nominations. In 2025, Morrison plans to bring the show to Broadway – but first, Beverly Hills gets the golden opportunity to see Morrison’s groundbreaking show at the Wallace Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in 2024.

Sam Morrison – Photo by Jason Williams

SUGAR DADDY is about love that began one summer in the gay paradise of Provincetown Massachusetts. That’s were Sam met the sexy silver daddy of his dreams, igniting a romance for the ages. The two were inseparable – but, in the midst of the pandemic, the love of his life tragically died from COVID. Devastated and full of pain and grief, Sam knew that there was only one way for him to handle the overwhelming anguish he felt – through comedy. And so SUGAR DADDY was born, an homage to lost love. Sounds pretty depressing and sad? SUGAR DADDY is anything but. In a brilliant turn of words, subtle gestures, staccato rantings, and disjointed pauses, Morrison manages to transform heartache into a kind of joy studded with sparkling – and hilarious – events marking their relationship. Steamy shower sex mixes with Jehovah’s Witnesses and a surprise diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes – a place where love and laughter intermingle.

Sam Morrison – Photo by Jason Wililams

When interviewed by David Gordon for Theatremania, Morrison described his journey: “I think I’m learning the more I do the show, the more I have to let the story and art separate from me and stand for itself…people finding value and connecting the dots with their own experience, positive or negative, is the most humbling and rewarding part of this experience…the support has been overwhelming and affirming.”

Sam Morrison – Photo by Jason Williams

Skillfully helmed by Tony award nominee Stephen Brackett (“Strange Loop”), SUGAR DADDY is funny, poignant, clever, and very entertaining. However, it is also raunchy and definitely X-rated. Earlier reviews said it all: “Quick witted and charismatic…confront overwhelming loss with punch lines and panache (New York Times).” “While audiences regularly double over with laughter, they’re easily as likely to bow their head with tears (Playbill).”

Sam Morrison – Photo by Jason Williams

Kudos for Sam Morrison, a talented comic, writer, and actor who understands the subtlety of the momentary pause and tilt of the head and the blatant surprise of explosive noises, a man with impeccable timing who could probably make a ham sandwich roar with laughter.

SUGAR DADDY runs through October 13, 2024, with performances at 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturdays, and at 2:30 p.m. (9/22 and 10/23) and 7 p.m. on Sundays (no performances on Sunday 10/6/ Friday 10/4 performs at 12 p.m. but not 8 p.m.) The Lovelace Studio Theater is located at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA. Tickets range from $39 to $95. For information and reservations, call 310-746-4000 or go online.

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