‘Giant Rat’ at OCC offers inspired performances

Tom Titus

When you scan the program and find character names such as “Caped

Fiend,” “Vicious Rascal” and “Evil Doer,” it’s pretty evident that

the show in question is not to be taken seriously -- even if the

names of the creators (Jack Sharkey and Tim Kelly) haven’t already

offered an advance clue.

To be sure, “Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Rat of Sumatra” was not

among the many mysteries from the master wordsmith Arthur Conan Doyle

-- he even merits an apology in the program at Orange Coast College,

where this farcical mystery with music is playing through Sunday.

Sharkey and Kelly, separately and together, particularly enjoyed

taking potshots at legendary fictional characters (Sharkey, of El

Toro, has long since passed away), so a satirical slice of Sherlock

would seem, well, elementary. And that’s pretty much the level of the

piece, though it receives some inspired interpretation from OCC’s

enthusiastic performers under the direction of Alex Golson, with Beth

Hansen at the piano.

To begin with, in the local version, the master detective is a

boyish-looking sleuth (Rudolph Niemann) attended by a continually

miffed Dr. Watson (Michael R. Cavinder), who overestimates his own

importance -- at least in Holmes’ opinion. The reason given for

Watson’s never committing this adventure to print is groaningly

specious.

Niemann has captured his character’s incredibly egocentric nature

and understated authority beautifully in a finely articulated

performance. Cavinder simmers with a fine blend of admiration and

discomfited envy as the second banana.

Holmes’ archenemy, Professor Moriarty, doesn’t have much to do

until the second act except toss in a melodramatic cackle every now

and then. But when the plot thickens, Sean F. Gray brings his

character’s evil genius to the fore with a vengeance in an

outrageously zealous performance.

Gray, indeed, is the most watchable element of the show, but he’s

aptly challenged for that honor by Emily Rued as a slinky Asian femme

fatale called Oolong, who uses her hypnotic eyes much to the same

effect as Jack the Ripper (yes, he’s here too, sort of) employs a

dagger. Rued is a familiar figure on the OCC stage, and her work in

this show, while all too brief, is memorable indeed.

The aforementioned weapon is the central element in a rather

outlandish plot involving a cult of Sumatran rat worshipers, but it’s

Moriatry’s scheme for world domination and Holmes’ elimination that

are brought center stage.

Along the way, the large OCC chorus of colorful background

characters belts out Sharkey’s musical message (including one snippet

borrowed from Stephen Sondheim).

Harriet C. Whitmyer doubles as Holmes’ giddy landlady, Mrs.

Hudson, and a surprise character inserted as a red herring late in

the show. Megan M. Zuliani is properly aristocratic as Holmes’

desperate client, while Katie McGuire scores as her queasy companion.

Heather Leanna cutely plays a ditsy damsel in distress, and Teddy

Spencer is properly clueless as Scotland Yard’s Inspector Lestrade.

All this inspired craziness is carried out against an imposing

backdrop designed by David Scaglione that includes a glimpse of Big

Ben and a fiendishly designed “shrinking machine” ... and eventually

the gargantuan vermin of the title. Cynthia Corley’s creative period

costuming further enhances the production.

That this particular Sherlock Holmes mystery is also a musical may

not advance the plot, but it does enrich the proceedings,

particularly during the sequence in which Holmes and Watson perform a

vaudeville-style buck and wing while warbling “Wendy, the Winsome

Wench from Worstershire.”

“Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Rat of Sumatra” may not be great

theater, but it certainly is great fun. OCC may be facing some severe

budget cuts in its theatrical program, but the college has pulled out

all the stops for this production.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Thursdays and Saturdays.