For the first time in San Diego history, we can all finally
enjoy a little Tomfoolery. It took twenty-five years from the time the first
incarnation of this musical revue hit London, but it was worth the wait.
Director George Flint of Renaissance Theatre Company has teamed up with
North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach to finally bring Tom Lehrer’s
singular wit to our local theatre community, and in so doing they have created
easily one of the funniest shows you’re going to see on San Diego stages this
year. Assuming you like totally irreverent, non-politically correct humor that
leaves no sacred ideal or institution unscathed!
It’s not like they don’t warn you first. But by then you’re already trapped, and they vow not to let you out until they’ve infuriated everyone in the room. The Boy Scouts, the armed forces, Southerners, folk singers, Germans, Irish, Catholics, teachers, hunters, hopeless romantics – even those innocents involved in S & M and incestual relationships cannot escape being roasted in some way or another. And the audience ate it all up. As did the pigeons in the park when two lovebirds found pleasure in poisoning said pigeons with cyanide-salted peanuts – the first of many classic romantic ballads found in the show. Ed Hollingsworth croons out a couple of the most memorable ballads including She’s My Girl and the macabre I Hold Your Hand in Mine. David S. Humphrey doesn’t impress his girl when he admits that he knows he’ll hate her when she’s old and gray, and later gets a spanking for it in the Masochism Tango featuring the hysterical Kristen Mengelkoch as the dancing dominatrix whose large eyes, facial expressions, body language, and natural sense of humor are a delight throughout. She also has the biggest scene in the show with her solo Oedipus Rex about a type of romance found mostly in Greek tragedy (and parts of the South). The four-person ensemble keeps the energy high and the humor low throughout, with a few of the other highlights including David S. Humphrey’s preemptive World War III tribute So Long Mom (I’m off to drop the bomb), Ed Hollingsworth as a nearsighted hunter given to hunting accidents as he shoots at deer donning red hats, Priscilla Allen singing an Irish ballad that never ends, and Kristen Mengelkoch putting her real-life teaching skills to work by explaining the usefulness of Silent E and instructing us in New Math. The four combine for many great numbers including National Brotherhood Week (don’t worry, it’s just a week), an Ode to the South in I Wanna Go Back to Dixie, an attack of The Folk Song Army, and genuflecting over the Vatican Rag. Cris O’Bryon adds character and spot-on accompaniment on the piano, while also singing the challenging tribute to The Elements – one of the very few songs that mention the entire periodic table of the elements. Both the cast and the audience gleefully join in for the big finale, ringing in the end of the world with the joyful dirge We Will All Go Together. If you’re not easily offended, you should definitely go and enjoy a night of outrageous, totally adulterated fun. On the other hand, if you are easily offended, you should definitely go and spend a night being totally outraged. It’ll please the cast!Performs through August 7, 2005.
~ Cast ~
Priscilla Allen Ed Hollingsworth David S. Humphrey Kristen Mengelkoch Director: George Flint Musical Staging: Ole Kittleson Music Director: Cris O'Bryon Set Design: Marty Burnett Costume Designer: Jeanne Reith Lighting and Sound Design: M. Scott Grabau Stage Manager/Bartender: Lloyd Hartman Props: Bonnie Durben |