Theater Reviews: In Mother Words, The Fix-Up Show, Love Sucks

GO  THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO Like the 1883 Italian novel from which it's adapted, Lee Hall's play about a willful marionette is not a sunny tale. Skillfully staged by director Stephen Rothman, this commedia dell'arte piece follows the random adventures of a self-centered puppet named Pinocchio (Amber Zion, voiced by Darrin Revitz) who is robbed, tricked, beaten and left for dead (among other misfortunes) before being happily reunited with his elderly father, Geppetto (Matthew Henerson, signed by Colin O'Brien-Lux). Unlike the Disney version, this Pinocchio is no dreamer; he's given to sulking, throwing tantrums and sometimes acting with malice — like answering a Cricket's (Vae) advice by killing the insect with a mallet. Nineteenth-century novelist Carlo Collodi, who wrote the original, imbued his work with an implied middle-class admonishment to children: Work hard and go to school. Hall's adaptation is well-grounded in the original, so don't come expecting profound political allegory or sizzling social satire. (One scene relates to controversy within the deaf community about the pressures of learning to speak versus communicating with sign language.) Yet the production offers an abundance of eye-catching production values and a fine ensemble gifted in the art of physical comedy. Designer Evan Bartoletti's set frames the show with a fairy tale magic, further enhanced by Joe Cerqua's sound and original music and by the collective zaniness of Ann Closs-Farley's costumes, Carol F. Doran's makeup and wigs and Lisa Lechuga's specialty hats. Henerson's booming but kindly papa and James Royce Edwards as the evil ringmaster give standout performances. Deaf West Theatre, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., N. Hlywd.; Thurs.-Fri., 8 p.m., Sat., 2 & 8 p.m., Sun., 2 p.m., Sat., March 26, 8 p.m., through March 27. (818) 762-2998. (Deborah Klugman)

PHOTO BY CHELSEA SUTTON

The Catholic Girl's Guide to Losing Your Virginity

The Fix-Up Show, featuring guest personality Tippi Hedren

Related Content

• Theater to See in L.A. This Week
  April 18, 2013
• Theater to See in L.A. This Week, Including a Jacobean Incest Melodrama
  May 16, 2013
• Theater to See in L.A. This Week, Including Prancing Horses on a Stage the Size of a Football Field
  March 7, 2013
• Theater to See in L.A. This Week, Including Garry Marshall Directing a Play About the Making of Double Indemnity
  April 11, 2013
• Theater to See in L.A. This Week, Including Sherlock's Last Case
  January 3, 2013

More About

• Annie Hendy
• Lee Hall
• Tennessee Williams
• Sandy Martin
• Matthew Henerson

BOOMERMANIA Debbie Kasper and Pat Sierchio's lively musical revue about baby boomers is much like the boomer culture itself — fluffy and pleasant, but also somewhat sad. The show purports to be a lighthearted gambol down pop-culture memory lane, from the 1950s through the '90s, with the road of boomer excess ultimately leading to a palace of wisdom furnished with Sugar Pops, Mr. Spock, Saturday Night Fever and the Summer of Love. The decades roll by, depicted in a series of quirky skits and punctuated by renditions of rock songs whose lyrics parody the absurdities of eras past. Act 1 is fluff itself: In "Sugar Pops, Captain Crunch," a group of 1950s teens croon their affection for newly invented sugar cereals to the tune of "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch." Later, a dazed married couple warble "Talking 'Bout My Television," a song depicting near-hypnotized enchantment with their brand-new TV (sung to the tune of "The Beat Goes On"). However, when Act 2 moves into the later decades, Kasper and Sierchio's satire takes on a more melancholy tone, particularly during a sequence at a 10-year high school reunion, in which a few adult boomers come to grips with boomer shock: They're not as special as they thought they were. The show's cast consists of strikingly youthful performers who appear too young even for their first legal cocktail, let alone speedballs at Studio 54. Yet, thanks to Mary Ekler's tightly focused musical direction, their powerful voices evoke far richer emotions than the material they're often asked to sing. While many of the musical skits are crisply performed, the narrative material often falls flat, with frequent allusions to other boomer-dated shows like The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Hair only pointing out those musicals' far more inventive scores. El Portal Forum Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., N. Hlywd.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 3 p.m., through March 27. (866) 811-4111. (Paul Birchall)

GO  CABARET IDOL "There's nothing better to watch than a performer who loves to perform, except two good-looking people having sex," says host Scot Young. And in week four of season two of this live competition, Young and the packed crowd of fans, friends and family watched 14 performers anxiously take the stage and sing a number for the judges. At the end of the evening there were 12 survivors, another cull in the quest for the grand prize: new head shots, a management contract and a two-night solo show. The performance's theme was, perversely, "No Show Tunes," which had the contestants in paroxysms. Said one without a hint of sarcasm, "There really aren't that many songs that aren't show tunes!" But try they did, belting out Broadway-esque versions of Journey and Whitesnake and Cyndi Lauper before a scoring panel that didn't let them off the hook. "I want you to do a damn country song," grumbled a judge in mock exasperation. There were some good voices — and a few great ones — but the audience was there to tap their toes, vote for their favorites and maybe even grab some dinner or a stiff drink if they could flag down one of the waiters zipping around in the standing-room-only dark. Hollywood Studio Bar & Grill, 6122 W. Sunset Blvd., Hlywd.; Sun., 7 p.m., through April 24. (323) 466-9917 (Amy Nicholson)

THE CATHOLIC GIRL'S GUIDE TO LOSING YOUR VIRGINITY In writer-performer Annie Hendy's comedy, a bubbly plaid-skirted gal named Lizzy (Hendy), wrestling with her staid Midwestern upbringing, impulsively decides she needs to have sex at least once in her life before she hits the quarter-century mark. But finding a guy who doesn't entirely repel her, and who is willing to do the deed, proves tougher than she imagined. What follows is a lighthearted look at the perilous dating scene via Lizzy's sojourn through a parade of weirdos, deadbeats and creeps. With its occasional direct-to-audience confessions, Hendy's play feels like a solo show that has been revamped as a two-hander. (Cyrus Alexander co-stars as all the men.) By opening up her material in this way, Hendy permits a broader examination of a single girl's dilemma with dating and self-confidence than in a one-woman show. It also allows Alexander to show his chameleonic talents, and to outshine Hendy with a virtuoso exercise, including lightning-quick costume changes. While fairly droll, Hendy's comedy doesn't offer much that is revelatory about a young Catholic woman's guilt, sexual repression, conscience-wrestling and ultimate sexual liberation. But it does provide some funny, touching and diverting scenes. Gregg W. Brevoort directs. Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank; Wed.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 4 p.m., through March 6. (818) 955-8101. (Pauline Adamek)