Side Man

"Side Man...is...a tender, deeply personal memory play about the turmoil in the family of a jazz musician as his career crumbles at the dawn of the age of rock-and-roll...It's a gentle reminder of bygone days, when a new play by Tennessee Williams or William Inge would stir up the public and fill seats for months" ~ NY Times

"Side Man...is an elegy for two things- a lost world and a lost love. When the two notes sound together in harmony, it is moving and graceful...Side Man evokes their loss with sweet, but never sentimental, poignancy. Framed as a memory play narrated by the son of a skilled, passionate trumpet player, it has, at times, the depth of feeling of an exile longing for home" ~ NY Daily News

"An atmospheric memory play, Side Man spans three decades in the life of a Manhattan musician. Playwright Warren Leight, whose father was a sideman, incisively captures the pulse and climate of the New York jazz scene, with crisp dialogue and clearly drawn characters. What appears on the surface to be a familiar domestic drama subtly reflects the passing of an era with persuasive insight...The joy and despair of the musicians is skillfully illustrated" ~ Variety