ROBIN’S SHOW REVIEW: Who’s Your Daddy?

Who’s Your Daddy?
in association with Georganne Aldrich Heller & Jami Heidegger

by Johnny O’Callaghan
directed by Tom Ormeny

Extended through May 26th

 Johnny O’Callaghan’s Who’s Your Daddy? is the uplifting and funny true story of his adoption of a Ugandan orphan. No one expected the single, gay, out-of-work actor living in Los Angeles to ever become a father – but a documentary shoot in Africa turns into an odyssey of the heart.

O’Callaghan is a magnetic presence from the moment he steps on stage.  His emotion is raw and palpable, as he takes us along on his heart-wrenching, but ultimately successful pursuit of fatherhood.  He didn’t see it coming, but he was drawn to the boy who tugged at his heartstrings….Benson….who he ultimately named Odin (after a God from Norse mythology), and who changed his life in ways he couldn’t imagine for the better.  Sharing his intentions with his parents and elder brother provided comic relief, if not awkward moments for O’Callaghan, but he stayed true to his agenda.

Prior to meeting his son,  O’Callaghan was feeling down on his luck big time.  He was ditched by a rock-star boyfriend.  His beloved dog Charlie went missing.  He started to party hard and was in a desperate stage. As he posted fliers for his missing dog, an actress gal pal spotted him and asked him to assist with the filming of a documentary about an AIDS orphanage in Uganda. He went for it, and the rest is history.

As an adoptive mom myself, I could relate to aspects of the overwhelmingly challenging adoption process…which for O’Callaghan included being invited to pay extra fees to expedite paperwork and navigate the extreme requirements of a foreign country, including the potential of not being able to adopt an HIV positive child…..his son turned out not to be positive.

O’Callaghan is a talent, and the intimacy of the theatre is ideal for the material.   The lighting, staging, sound and set design are all done well….and we feel as if we are right there with him…African mosquitoes, snakes, etc. and all. 

 Performance Schedule:

Tags: adoption, midlife mothering, off broadway, raising a son, robin gorman newman, uganda