Theater Reviews: Friends Like These, The Crossing, Peace, Somebody’s Somebody

Also, F*ucking Men, The Kingdom Come, The Golden Gays and more

Comments (0) By L.A. Weekly Theater Critics Tuesday, Sep 15 2009

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GO THE GOLDEN GAYS Even non-fans of The Golden Girls will be amused by John Patrick Trapper’s uproarious play with music, which simultaneously spoofs the TV series and the neuroses of aging gay men. Diagnosed with Sitcom Affective Disorder by the unconventional Dr. Leche (Aaron Barerra), four gay men turn to drag in order to work out their identification with characters from The Golden Girls. Samuel (David Romano) identifies with the acid-tongued tongued Sophia, mother of the imperious Dorothy, who’s impersonated by Damien (John W. McLaughlin). Promiscuous Blanche is played by the equally promiscuous Blaine (John Downey III), and Roger (Irwin Moskowitz) rounds out the quartet as the ditzy Rose. The plot is secondary to the reprise of various scenes from the much-beloved TV show. The uncredited costumes are hilarious, particularly Dr. Leche’s get-ups, with additional kudos for dragographer ChaCha Cache. Trapper’s lyrics make the musical numbers equally hilarious, thanks in part to musical director Robert Glen Decker. Lori J. Ness Quinn’s over-the-top direction matches perfectly with the outrageous material, which includes lots of Bea Arthur jokes. The actors turn in superior performances, with a special nod to McLaughlin’s Dorothy. Cavern Club Theater at Casita del Campo, 1920 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake; Thurs.-Sat., 9 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; through October 10. plays411.com/thegoldengays. (323) 969-2530. Wild Stance Productions. (Sandra Ross)

GO THE MATCHMAKER When playwright Thornton Wilder lifted the character Frosine from Molière’s The Miser, and transplanted her in his adaptation of a 19th-century Viennese farce by Johan Nestroy, he can’t have realized that he was launching her as one of the most enduringly popular characters in 20th-century American theater. Renamed Dolly Gallagher Levi, she became the formidable protagonist of both The Matchmaker and Hello, Dolly!, Jerry Herman’s musical version. The play remains a delicious piece of faux Americana, which doesn’t need the songs to be a zany theatrical warhorse. Dolly (Amanda Carlin) is playing matchmaker for wealthy Yonkers merchant Horace Vandergelder (James Gleason), but she’s actually out to capture him for herself. When Horace heads to Manhattan to woo the widow Mrs. Molloy (Alyss Henderson), his two clerks, Cornelius (Patrick Rafferty) and Barnaby (Colin Thomas Jennings), take advantage of his absence to run off for a Manhattan adventure of their own. Comic confusions, mistaken identities and multiple romances result. Director Dave Florek’s production is sturdy rather than brilliant, but he elicits plenty of charm from his large, engaging cast. Particularly noteworthy are Don Fischer and James Greene in goofy featured roles. Jeff McLaughlin’s sets and Sherry Linnell’s costumes capture the period flavor. The Victory Theatre Center, 3326 W. Victory Blvd., Burbank; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 4 p.m.; through October 18. Produced by Interact Theatre Company. (818) 765-8732. (Neal Weaver)

Ed Krieger

Ruby, Tragically Rotund

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GO PEACE If you don’t like your walking peace symbol to be a slightly bewildered pot-smoking goofball (John Fleck), who, during an entirely gratuitous interlude, leads the crowd in a ditty that literally sings the praises of masturbation (“It felt so nice, I did it twice”), look elsewhere. Low comedy doesn’t come any lower than this: huge balloon phalluses poking out from tunics, or bashing audience members as the characters parade through the crowd. We’re talking Aristophanes here — the child prodigy class-clown playwright of ancient Greece (the “class” may be overstated) who loathed corrupt authority figures almost as much as Molière would a couple millennia later. We’re also talking Culture Clash, the Latino sketch-comedy trio (Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza) — Montoya penned this adaptation of Aristophanes’ Peace with his compatriots — who sprung from Bay Area standup clubs with a then-unique brand of politically charged humor, a much ruder, cruder prelude to Jon Stewart, both politically correct and incorrect in the same breath, filled with indignation over rudimentary violations of civil rights and civil liberties. The blending of ruthless parody with self-confident and at times simple interpretations of Right and Wrong has proven to be a rare, sustaining formula, and it’s on full display here, under Bill Rauch’s animated and often whimsical staging. Trygaeus, or Ty Dye (Fleck), ventures to heaven on a “dung beetle” to free Peace (a statue) from lockup in Heaven. A noisy neighbor diva (Amy Hill) turns in a very big cameo. Montoya, in one of Shigeru Yaji’s many stunning costumes and Lynn Jeffries’ puppet masks that somehow reproportion the human body) plays the war machine, a thug who tries to stifle Ty Dye’s efforts at every pass. Heaven is, of course, the Getty Villa, directly behind the amphitheater stage, also decorated with free-rolling Yoga balls, and a huge, portable mound of pop culture (or poop culture) detritus referred to as a “shit pile.” (Set by Christopher Acebo.) There’s a joke for every corner of the region, from Montebello to Malibu, and Montoya has reconfigured the play’s finale so that Aristophanes’ happy ending with a marriage is tossed for the visit of a sweet, silent child, who faces down War. The update is a fine idea, particularly as the sheer energy of the high jinks starts to wear down. Yet it takes us no further than the classic Vietnam War photograph of a female hippie protestor facing down a National Guard bayonet with a daisy. And that was at least four American wars ago. If war is so bad, why do we love it so much? To trace the warring impulse to father issues, as this adaptation does, keeps the show enshrined in the same pop psychology that it mocks so well throughout. The production is beautifully accompanied by the femme-trio mariachi band, Las Colibri. Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman Theater at the Getty Villa, 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; through October 3. (310) 440-7300. (Steven Leigh Morris)