Don’t Look Back
Hedda and the Pussycats
Hanggi provides a charged, smoky atmosphere and the promise of sweaty grunge as the audience enters the club. But through two dozen musical numbers, most of them lip-synched, choreographer Antin keeps retracing the same steps -- e.g., dancers standing with their backs to us, legs spread, suddenly plunge from the waist, revealing peek-a-boo underwear, again and again. The moves have the requisite snap; the result is as glossy and impenetrable as a magazine spread. Posing as an ode to the pinup, with her mix of power and vulnerability, Pussycat Dolls Liveis really about the power of the well-oiled machine. I can't think of anything more relentless or less sexy.
The production has been strutting for years at the Viper Room. Its club origins render it a progeny of Hedwig and the Angry Inch; however, unlike Hedwig, it's scrubbed clean of a story, social consciousness, twists of perversity or anything else that might sustain interest after Dita Von Teese has dunked herself into a huge plastic martini glass, or the testosterone effect from torn fishnet stockings and exposed corsets has worn off.
In fact, Larry Flynt's Hustler Hollywood boutique across the street is mentioned in the opening remarks, and there's a full-page ad in the program for "Laser Smooth" -- in case you're inspired to remove unwanted hair after the show. Now there's the women's movement in the 21st century, the power of choice at work.
G FOR BETTY FRIEDAN | By ANN MARCUS At Theater East, 12655 Ventura Blvd., Second Floor, Studio City | Through June 30
PUSSYCAT DOLLS LIVE | Created by ROBIN ANTIN | At the Roxy, 9009 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood | Through May 30
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