‘A Man of No Importance’ Rises on Its Sweetly Haunting Music

Sometimes having actors double as musicians, the Scottish director John Doyle has made a specialty of distilling beloved musicals in often stark but exhilarating productions.

Julieta Cervantes
A.J. Shively and Jim Parsons in ‘A Man of No Importance.’ Julieta Cervantes

Over the past two decades, the Scottish director John Doyle has made a specialty of distilling beloved musicals in often stark but exhilarating productions — from “Oklahoma” to “The Color Purple,” along with several Sondheim classics. In a few cases, including his acclaimed revivals of “Sweeney Todd” and “Company,” this strategy has involved having actors double as musicians. 

For his swan song at off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company, where he completed the last of six seasons as artistic director earlier this year, Mr. Doyle selected “A Man of No Importance,” a lesser-known gem featuring music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens — the duo behind “Ragtime” and “Once On This Island,” among other Broadway fan favorites — and a book by the late Terrence McNally, who was their frequent collaborator.

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