Last modified: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 1:11 PM EDT Joe Wilson Jr., left, and James Royce Edwards in Trinity Rep's original production of "Paris by Night." REVIEW: Trinity's 'Paris by Night' an unconventional triumph BY JAMES A. MEROLLA SUN CHRONICLE STAFF PROVIDENCE - I got lost at Trinity Repertory Company Wednesday night - lost in the atmosphere, the music, the rarified air, the superb performances. I was transported to another place; maybe a better place. The world premiere of "Paris by Night" lit up the Trinity stage and the air was electric. The new, controversial Curt Columbus-Andre Pluess-Amy Warren musical is a triumph of the heart and spirit; a sweet, romantic excursion into a dark realm with light at the end of the tunnel, flickering in the window. How you will feel about this show depends completely on your liberal or conservative bent. Depending upon how open-minded you are, it may completely charm, delight or repulse you. But after viewing, even conservatives will have to admit that, no matter who or what you are, ultimately, we are all the same - searching, disillusioned, jaded, lonely, vulnerable and dying to be in love. Columbus, the openly gay writer of this winning work, grew up loving musicals but, after discovering his sexual identity, realized that there "was no one in these shows like me," so he decided to write one; his dream script. He has set it in 1960s Paris, the site of the Hollywood musicals he adored as a child. Yet despite these familiar leanings, this musical is unconventional, to say the least - an interracial, gay love story. An American expatriate Sam (the utterly amazing Joe Wilson Jr.) lives in Paris, mending a broken heart. We meet the denizens of his boulevard - his oldest friend Harry, a predatory, older gay man who can quip and snip with the best of them (Stephen Berenson's best work in years); the lovely, wounded cabaret singer Marie (a fetching Rachael Warren), a cafe mistress (a charming Janice Duclos) and three American soldiers on a three-day pass, the brutal redneck Frank (a rugged Mauro Hantman), the awkward, clean Patrick (a sensationally funny Stephen Thorne) and the innocent, pure Buck (impressive guest artist James Royce Edwards). A young Consortium body of students fill out the cast (special kudos to Charise Greene, playing the concertina). Each of them is searching for his own soulmate; and each is found wanting. Sam runs a tattoo parlor and painfully writes a draw full of a variation of the same letter he cannot mail to his ex-lover George, unable to function socially again. Enter Buck, a wide-eyed, charming, country Army boxer who wants a tattoo. He and Sam hit it off and soon, Sam, reluctant to let anyone near him, has been charmed into showing Buck the sights of the city. He then innocently offers him a better place to stay beyond the dingy whorehouse/hotel the soldiers have enlisted as bunks. There is a palpable romance in the air as the two men soon seem more than friends. The subplot is a heterosexual (read: conventional) romance between the nightingale Marie and the rough Sgt. Frank. As the Parisian air gets more and more charged, you may feel uncomfortable when the two lead hunks take off their shirts, or when Sam gives Buck a rose tattoo on his chest; but writer Columbus and director Birgitta Victorson have handled this stunning romance with a gentle, sweet grace. There is but one full kiss from which all else builds and then spills; it polarized the audience, being instantly cringe-inducing or the expected lynchpin, depending on your aspects. The story then immediately becomes a traditional structure of boy meets ?, boy loses ?, will boy get ? back? The ? is both male and female. The 15 sweet songs are jazzy, breezy, discordant, with just the right back street feel. Columbus' universal lyrics serve them well. There are no big show-stopper numbers here, but rather, pleasant, vibrant melodies which encircle the story and hang in the air like a thick breath of film noir cigarette smoke. The dazzling, utilitarian two-level set by Tony Award-winner Eugene Lee serves many functions perfectly - as a cafe, a bar, a dive, the tattoo parlor, a hotel, a large house and, even a boxing ring. The musicians - Michael Rice, Thomas Brinkley and Mike Sartini - are splendid. Berenson's snippy, fey Harry, and Thorne's, boyish, innocent Patrick deservedly get the biggest laughs ("I don't queer! I mean, I don't care!") from Columbus' extremely witty script. Wilson and Royce Edwards are ruggedly astonishing. "Paris by Night" absolutely will transport you to a better place and, perhaps, to a more tolerant one. "PARIS BY NIGHT" runs through May at Trinity Repertory Theatre, 201 Washington St., Providence. Call 401-351-4242 for tickets or go to www.trinityrep.com.