The Daddy Machine

No, it’s not a turkey baster hooked up to a cryo tank. It’s the name of a new musical celebrating lesbian and gay families, running January 18-27 at San Diego’s Diversionary Theatre. Based on the book by Johnny Valentine, the show tells the tale of a boy with two moms who becomes disgruntled over not getting his favorite pancakes for breakfast. He then decides a dad would be more amenable to his request, and accidentally invents a machine that produces dads—62 of them—bearing plates of pancakes. No, the cast doesn’t number in the 60’s; audience participation rounds out the team of seven.

Award-winning playwright Patricia Loughrey adapted the book for the stage, while composer Rayme Sciaroni did the music and lyrics. They worked with LGBT parenting group Family Matters to make sure their expanded version of the story (complete with a singing dog named Stonewall) reflected the lives of its intended audience. According to the theatre:

The parents from Family Matters expressed a concern that the play should not send the message that children with same-sex parents are missing something essential in their life. Yet they admitted some of their children living in lesbian-parented households ask the question, Do I have a father? “The challenge of the piece for us is twofold,” says playwright Loughrey, “To add depth and detail to the existing story, and to address the issue of ‘daddy’ in a way that invites kids and their families to talk openly about that role, without reinforcing the message which some kids hear that ‘Parents = one man, one woman.’”

If you’ll be in San Diego in the next week or so, you can decide for yourself if they’ve succeeded. (After playing at the Diversionary Theatre, the show will then tour to San Diego State and Long Beach State.) Otherwise, you can listen to sample songs from the show on the Diversionary Theatre Web site.