'Who’s Your Daddy?' Is a Comedic True Story

Who’s Your Daddy? is about a single man’s fight, against all odds, to adopt a three year old boy in Uganda.  This is not about the American hoops he might have had to jump through to complete a catalog adoption.  In his one man show at The Little Victory Theatre in Burbank, writer and actor Johnny O’Callaghan uses humor to tell us the story about his sometimes astonishing experiences. Before this all began no one, not even O’Callaghan, ever expected him to become a father. However, a documentary shoot in Africa became a nine-month adventure during which he found a son and discovered himself.

“I went to Africa on a lark,” O’Callaghan explains. “I was feeling sorry for myself because I’d just broken up from a relationship, and my acting career wasn’t moving fast enough. I didn’t realize how privileged I was - then I went to Uganda and it was a shock.”

In a last ditch effort to get someone, anyone, to come along, his friend convinced him to accompany her to an orphanage in remote Kasesse in Uganda where she was to film a documentary.  Out of money and out of options, O’Callaghan agreed to go.  What he found there was extreme poverty, AIDs, and political upheaval, making it a very dangerous place for a musungu, a white person, to be.

“I hadn’t come to Africa to adopt – that was the farthest thing from my mind,” he continues. “But when I saw Odin, there was an instant connection. I’m very spiritual and was doing a lot of meditating at the time, so I was open to the possibilities and acted on my impulse. I think that’s also what carried me through the very tough challenges I had to navigate once I made my decision.” He renamed the boy Odin after the Norse god associated with war and victory because O’Callaghan saw such strong survivor qualities in him.

Born in Dublin and educated in Belfast, O’Callaghan (best known as “Niam” on SciFi Channel’s Stargate Atlantis) relishes the idea of going back to his theater roots. “This play is about telling a story, which is where I started as an actor. I’m finding that everywhere I go, this experience seems to affect people. Maybe it taps into people’s dreams, into their faith that you can achieve whatever you want if you’re persistent. Or maybe,” he laughs, “it’s the fact that I’m not your typical ‘perfect parent.’”

Director Tom Ormeny heard an early reading of the play and was similarly affected. “It’s such a unique story, and it’s funny and it’s heartfelt” he says. “It’s not just about an adoption – it’s the journey of a man’s awakening as a human being, of coming into himself.”

Who’s Your Daddy? runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 4 p.m. through December 18. Tickets range from $24-$34. The Little Victory Theatre is located at 3326 W. Victory Blvd in Burbank. For information and tickets, call 818-841-5422 or go to www.thevictorytheatrecenter.org.