THEATRE REVIEW:
KPBS AIRDATE: March 03, 2006
So, how do you like your musicals? Oversized or
manageable? Forced or funny? The Big One requires a ride up to Orange County.
The snugly-entertaining one is right here at home. “The People vs. Mona” is the latest work by
Jim Wann, co-creator of “Pump Boys and Dinettes,” most recently reprised at Lamb’s
Players Theatre. This local premiere has
more plot and a lot more humor. And it’s getting a wonderful airing at San
Diego State University.
The story concerns a down-home gal in “the
tapped-out town” of Tippo, Georgia who’s accused of murdering her husband on
their wedding night. In the rather informal courtroom, the judge is also a
gospel-belting reverend, the prosecuting attorney is jealous and self-serving,
and the defense lawyer falls for the defendant. A host of eccentric witnesses
advances a score that ranges from country to calypso. Under Paula Kalustian’s
witty direction, the production is a delight. The cast is composed primarily of
the talented, soon-to-be-graduating MFA students in musical theater, with Kelly
Baldwin as our homey host, surrounded by a bevy of femmes fatales: Kelsey
Venter as Mona, Ryan Beattie as attorney Mavis, Jamie Kalama as the ministerial
judge, and perky, pink-clad, high-haired Nicole Werner as the
cheerleader-turned journalist, Tish. Omri Schein adds his comic flair to a pair
of goofball witnesses, one of whom dies on the stand. All the voices are
impressive, and they’re backed by a whiz-bang band, featuring banjo, steel
drums and music director Terry O’Donnell on keyboards. It’s cute and clever and
executed with a light, comic touch.
On the other end of the spectrum there’s “Bombay
Dreams,” whose North American tour just kicked off at the Orange County
Performing Arts Centre. The movie-within-a-musical was the idea of producer
Andrew Lloyd Webber, king of the overblown extravaganza. Though acclaimed Indian
composer A.R. Rahman created the score, it bears every Lloyd Webber trademark: an
overabundance of spectacle, more showpiece than substance and one song that
repeats so often you can’t get it out of your head. Here, it’s “Shakalaka
Baby.” The welterweight story concerns a Bombay tour guide whose fantasy comes
true when he rises from the Paradise slum to become a Bollywood superstar.
Although the show makes fun of all the trite elements of Bollywood movies, it
proceeds to include every one of them, with no satire, insight or sarcasm in
evidence. The musical has already been through London, New York and rewrites,
but this cast, which should sparkle like the ever-changing costumes, is so
lackluster that the entire overblown effort falls flat, and isn’t worth a trip
to anywhere.
Stay close to home and have some real fun… with
high-spirited “Mona.”
©2006 Patté Productions
Inc.