Lagunatics preparing for ‘Senior Prom’

TOM TITUS

The senior prom is coming up at Laguna Beach High School next month,

but these seniors are old enough to vote, drink, drive and poke fun

at themselves for having been on the planet for as long as they have.

They’re the Lagunatics, who give the Art Colony a satirical

pasting once a year in the name of good fun and good deeds.

Currently, they’re rehearsing their annual spoof fest for public

viewing the last three days of July in the Artists Theater at Laguna

High -- with proceeds going toward the building of the city’s Susie Q

Senior Center.

“We’ll have a couple of tributes to growing older with Rufino

Cabang’s ‘Are You Older Tonight?’ and the gals of a certain age’s

‘Hot Flash’ (sung to the tune of ‘Heat Wave’),” reports Bree Burgess

Rosen, who started the whole fun-filled event in 1992 and has staged

every version of Lagunatics since then.

The cast of the satirical revue ranges in age from 14 to 75 and

includes four pairs of fathers and teenage daughters who’ll “do a

number bemoaning the ultra-risque fashions currently worn by so many

young ladies/girls,” Rosen adds. It’s called “Mommas Don’t Let Your

Babies Dress Up Like They’re Call Girls.”

Then there’s a spoof on speeding tickets entitled “We Will Clock

You,” sung to the tune of Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” The “Old

Fashioned Wedding” from “Annie Get Your Gun” becomes “Old Fashioned

Bake Sale” about the challenges of creating successful fundraisers in

a town chock full of charities.

There are, however, some topics that are off limits for spoofery

-- even for the Lagunatics.

“I wrote a number reflecting the red and yellow-tagged neighbors

of my good friends -- cast members and a former board member,” Rosen

said. “I wrote it months ago when the home above theirs started

slipping off its foundation and had to be held up by a couple of

cranes for many tense weeks. It’s called ‘Is My House on the Street

Where You Live.’

“Since the subject matter is far more tragic [following the recent

landslides], we’ll wait to see if the recovery has left room for some

gallows humor,” she added.

Another topic ripe for satirizing is the City Council’s downsizing

of the concerts in the park. It’s called “People Will Say We’re Too

Loud” with apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma.”

“We’re encouraging one and all to wear their prom duds, whether

that means toile with taffeta or tails with your Tommy Bahamas,”

Rosen quips. “This is going to be a rollicking weekend.”

The event also will be raising money for the senior center with

its prom king/queen (or king/king, queen/queen) packages. Only one

will be sold for each show, and will include a driver, 10 prime

seats, corsages, boutonnieres, wine, prom pictures and all sorts of

other goodies. “This is not your LBHS prom,” Rosen cracks. “At least

I hope not.”

The main thrust of the annual Lagunatics is to have fun by poking

fun, and raising a good deal of money for charity while doing so.

This year, the Susie Q Senior Center’s building fund will be the

major recipient of the Lagunatics largesse.

“We’ve got to get this senior center built,” Bree Burgess Rosen

declares. “I’m 45.”

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Coastline Pilot.