‘Misters and Sisters’ stages life as a cabaret

Parker and Jeffrey Kazin, a founding member of the Bang Group and one of Parker’s artistic soul mates for two decades, are the “Misters and Sisters’’ of the title. The show recalls their respective childhoods in Lynnfield (Parker) and Waltham (Kazin) as gay boys who found “salvation’’ through Hollywood musicals. Parker’s brother Daniel contributes a few vocal numbers as well, adding his memories of young David’s obsession with “Miss Debbie Reynolds, who told us we could get up and get out and be whoever we wanted to be.’’

Freewheeling in structure and dedicated to Parker’s late father, famed mystery writer Robert B. Parker, the show opens with a sweepingly romantic little ballroom number by Bang Group stalwarts Amber Sloan and Nic Petry. They punctuate their lyrical waltz with glam posturing and a little soft-shoe shuffle. Wearing hooded sweatshirts and expressions of both longing and guilt, Parker and Kazin watch covertly from opposite sides of the stage. Their subsequent duet, “In My Own Little Corner,’’ takes on special poignancy sung by two gay men recalling their disenfranchised youth.

Then the two strip down to sparkling black evening wear, and the celebration begins with a nifty little dance routine, Parker tap dancing in a dress, Kazin unleashing whip-crack pirouettes in a décolleté jumpsuit and pointe shoes. The diminutive Petry, brilliantly channeling Reynolds, joins the pair for a rendition and clever deconstruction of “All I Do Is Dream of You,’’ which gradually breaks the song’s rhythmic patterns down into a three-way slap dance. “I Fall in Love Too Easily’’ reunites Sloan and Petry in a duet of balletic extensions and balances, leading to a lively conga ménage à trois with Kazin. The finale, inspired by the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, is an arrangement of “Old-Fashioned Wedding’’ complemented by a tap routine that skews and fractures traditional phrases with offbeat shapes and unpredictable timing.

The show is least effective when the dancing gives way completely to vocal numbers, and at times it’s a bit too self-indulgent, as many autobiographical ventures tend to be. But it’s also clever, sweet, and very funny, camp yet utterly sincere. And that’s what we take away and what will probably bring us back when “Misters and Sisters’’ spawns a “Part Two.’’

Karen Campbell can be reached at karencampbell4@rcn.com.