Act 1

Side Man starts out in 1985, with the main character, Clifford, addressing the audience directly, a technique that he uses throughout the play. He notes that he has not seen his parents, and they have not seen each other, in a long time. The stage lights go down, and when they come up, Clifford is at his mother's apartment for an awkward reunion. This is the first of many times that the production uses the stage lights to shift the action to a different time or place. The scene shifts again, and Clifford is at the Melody Lounge, where his father, Gene, is playing trumpet onstage with his old friends and fellow musicians, Ziggy, Al, and Jonesy. Clifford runs into Patsy, another one of the old gang. As they are catching up, the lights come up on another part of the stage, revealing Clifford's mother in her apartment...