One summer when I worked at an arts school, a woman named Mary Susan Slawter would call the admin office and leave longwinded voicemails, sometimes three or more in a row, always between the hours of midnight and 2am.  She puzzled my colleagues and me to no end with her rambling gossip about local politicians, revered institutions, near death experiences, and anything else on her mind. "Steve: A Docu-Musical" is Colin Summers’ tribute to his own Mary Susan Slawter, a middle aged Australian man named Steve.

The play begins when Steve hires Colin, a young Brooklyn musician, to set a poem of his to music. (Poetry To Music was Steve’s online business with his roommate at the time.) This transaction launches into over one hundred song collaborations and a 6,000+ email exchange.

Steve at turns lavishes Colin with praise along the lines of “Send Colin to jail…. for being TOO GOOOD!!!!!!!” and befuddles him with requests to “Just block my email address in the future, that will remind me to stop writing songs. I want to give up songwriting I am addicted.”

Because of his desire to remain anonymous, we only know Steve by his first name. He doesn’t physically appear on stage, not even as portrayed by an actor, but we get to read so many of his emails that Steve’s voice is hugely present in the play. Seeing his oddly punctuated, bizarre, and tenacious correspondence is a delight. It also fairly represents Colin’s experience with him: the two have never actually met in person.

The source material is golden, and Summers can do no wrong with it. Both he and director Nessa Norich are recent additions to the New York Neo-Futurist ensemble, and their non-illusory aesthetic permeates "Steve: A Docu-Musical". Summers isn’t playing a character; he is himself speaking directly to the folks in front of him, and we’re all in the actual room that we’re in. The story unfolds in real time. It’s someone’s wacky personal experience -- the kind of story you trot out at parties or (as in Colin’s case) on first dates -- streamlined and theatricalized in a funny and touching hour-long presentation.

"Steve: A Docu-Musical" only runs for five performances as part of the FRIGID NEW YORK festival. Catch it now because it’s a real treat. I look forward to the future iterations and productions of this tender-hearted gem.