THEATRE REVIEW:
KPBS
AIRDATE: April 18, 2003
Live onstage, at a theater near you --
Barbie and Carmen Miranda! Well, not together. And not quite the originals. The
impossibly-bodied Barbie was born in 1959 and the Brazilian fruit-wearing
Bombshell died in 1955, but she's making a drag comeback at two local theaters.
Though the show at Diversionary is a Latino comedy, Carmen is done funnier in
the gay musical "Trolls" at 6th @ Penn.
Trolls, according to book and lyrics
writer Bill Dyer, are gay men over 40. And they're uproarious. Here, six
friends come together to celebrate the life of their recently deceased buddy,
who -- surprise! -- died of a garden variety heart attack. They laugh, they
sing, they cry, they claw each other's eyes out and then they kiss and make up.
It's all delicious fun. The music, by Dick DeBenedictis, who's worked with some
of Broadway's best, is generally upbeat and catchy, though those retro intros
with the trite lines could go, without losing a beat; Dyer's lyrics are much
more clever in the refrains. In the title song, the guys lament their being
"old and needy, sad and seedy… mean and crabby, soft and flabby." Did
I say guys? Well, there's one transsexual in their midst, and it was a stroke
of genius to cast Leigh Scarritt, whose look, with her mile-high wigs and
flamboyant, skin-tight dresses, is drag paradise. Ole Kittleson's direction and
David Brannen's choreography are a hoot. The best voices belong to La Scarritt,
the youth-obsessed Tom Fitzpatrick and the
returned-from-the-dead-to-be-with-his-friends Ralph Johnson. But each player
has a moment, and Ed Hollingsworth gets his in the humorous "Gay
Cabballeros," which includes not only the fruity Carmen, but also the
'sure-he's-straight' Ricky Martin, the Girl from Ipanema (who was a boy!) and
the perils of being a gay Latino. The literary and entertainment allusions fly
fast and furious; there isn't an icon omitted, from Judy to Ethel, Betty to
Barbra. It's a 90-minute, intermissionless romp that anyone -- straight or gay,
old or young -- can relate to in some way. "Trolls" is poignant at
times, pee-your-pants funny and totally irresistible.
Now, playwright Dennis Hassell can take
a lesson from that, in his over-long, overblown American premiere at Lamb's
Players Theatre. This commissioned farce, which takes a few swipes at the
church institution, but champions true faith -- in religion and people -- goes
on about an hour too long. One act or so would keep us amused by the cartoonish
characters: the fresh-minted pastor and the wacko board of his new
congregation. The performances are great, the bimbette Barbie and her impotent
Karpet King husband look hilarious -- but riotous costumes, talented actors and
a cunning director deserve a better vehicle… though they ride this one for all
it's worth… and beyond.
©2003 Patté
Productions Inc.