Theater Review

Tom Titus

In the movie “The Wild One” nearly 50 years ago, Marlon Brando’s biker

character was asked what he was rebelling against. His glib answer:

“Whattya got?”

The same reply could be given by playwright James McLure, were he to be

quizzed on what he was satirizing in his revamping of John O’Keefe’s 18th

century comedy “Wild Oats.” You name it, McLure jabs it in his potpourri

western comic melodrama now unfolding on the stage of OCC’s Drama Lab

Theater.

Several seasons ago, South Coast Repertory staged the Revolutionary

War-era original. McLure’s version may be more of a juvenile, popcorn

farce, but it’s also somewhat funnier as long as you go with the spirit

of it and leave your sophistication at the door.

Director Alexander Golson and what seems like a cast of thousands have

delved into the “Dumb and Dumber” vein for some outrageously effective

pieces of farcical stagecraft. McLure’s play is a thinly disguised

melodrama that pokes fun at its genre, and Golson has elicited some

decidedly over-the-top performances from his enthusiastic players, some

of which border on the grotesque.

“Wild Oats” is set in the town of Muleshoe, Texas -- which must be fairly

close to Oklahoma, where the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye. Here,

two itinerant actors are endeavoring to transport culture to the prairie,

resulting in the energetic entwinement of Shakespeare and slapstick.

Meanwhile, a bombastic cavalry colonel is seeking the son he never knew,

a heiress is fending off an avaricious clergyman and a dastardly rancher

is plotting nefarious schemes aided by a trio of Army deserters. The

dialogue is replete with “groaners,” but it’s still quite a lot of fun.

OCC instructor David Scaglione is a particular hoot as the colonel whose

bombast is more fearsome than his bite. The key performance in the show,

however, is turned in by Alecs Vildosola as his trusty aide -- half

Irish, half Indian and all rambunctious hilarity with the comic timing of

Groucho Marx and the manic energy of Jim Carrey.

Michael Cavinder takes the spotlight as the Shakespeare-spouting thespian

(naturally, the show makes comic use of that term) who falls for the

young heiress believed to be his cousin, Tracy Downs as a Westerner whose

immersion in Eastern culture didn’t take. Their scenes propel the action

without stinting on the comedy.

The duplicitous preacher is done with villainous relish by George

Rothman, while Hugh Goodearl munches large chunks of scenery as the

ballistic rancher. Richie Ruggiero as his brain-dead son could be the

village idiot of several villages and Danae Michelle Hanson eagerly

discovers “sluttishness” as his previously sheltered daughter.

Dropping in now and then to swipe scene after scene are “lighting

inventors” Kliegle and Leako, played much like the comic villains in an

old James Bond movie by Sean Gray and James McGinnis. Shawn Shryver,

Brandon “Scooby” Jones and Travis Woods raise havoc as the deserters and

Stephen Moore is effective as Cavinder’s stage companion.

There’s also a subplot involving a Mexican farmer (Mark Hunt) and his

sad-eyed sister (Pamela Russell), which eventually contributes heavily to

the story, as well as some egregious comic overplaying by an actor

identified only as Broos. Anna Jackson and Janeen Rene Gronsky add some

sweet voices to the mixture, backed by musical director Terence Alaric at

the piano.

“Wild Oats” is indeed quite wild -- one of those comedies where the

first rule is “let it all hang out.” The company follows this admonition

to the letter.WHAT: “Wild Oats”

WHERE: OCC Drama Lab Theater, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa MesaWHEN: Closing

performances today through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.HOW MUCH:

$6 to $9PHONE: (714) 432-5880