Why does every show set in Dublin seem to take place in a bar? Hot on the heels of the Broadway-bound “Once” — where you can step up onstage and buy a pint of Guinness before the show and at intermission — comes “Dedalus Lounge.”
But while Gary Duggan’s play-with-music about three 30-somethings coping with crises both professional and personal also takes place at a tavern, there’s no working tap. Which is a shame, because “Dedalus Lounge” could use a chaser.
Here we meet the unlucky-in-love Danny (James Kautz), who dreams of being Freddie Mercury in a Queen tribute band; the vivacious Delphine (Dee Roscioli), who’s making it with a married politician; and the intense, masochistic Daragh (Anthony Rapp), who makes the other two look normal — especially when he asks Delphine to cut him.
Sexual tensions flare during marathon drinking sessions. Daragh sets out seduce Delphine, who Danny’s loved since college. When Danny, ostensibly straight, makes a pass at Daragh, the latter reacts with horror, though he’s just described an encounter with another man.
Stylistically, the show is all over the map. Rapp belts out some Queen-like songs, while a pair of lissome dancers appear periodically for pointless interludes. Despite the actors’ best efforts — Rapp, one of the original stars of “Rent,” is as endearing as usual; Roscioli is appealing and Kautz compelling — the evening’s a mess, though the playwright has an ear for dialogue and a sure hand for believable characterizations. If only he’d skip the silly distractions.