Another musical this summer

TOM TITUS

When the arts festival crowds begin packing Laguna Beach and traffic

is bumper to bumper, one might think the Laguna Playhouse would take

the summer off -- after all, its parking lot is filled with the cars

of cast members in the adjacent Pageant of the Masters.

It’s summertime, and the livin’ isn’t exactly easy. But the

playhouse traditionally has been as much an attraction as the

Pageant, the Festival of Arts or any other artistic venue during the

warmer months.

Typically, the attraction is a funny, feel-good musical comedy --

such as “Forever Plaid” or “Always...Patsy Cline,” which have graced

the playhouse’s stage in past summers. This time around, in case you

haven’t guessed from the title, it’s another musical.

“The Musical of Musicals -- the Musical,” which opens July 9 after

the customary week of previews, is an evening of variations on a

theme, taking the same basic plot and presenting it five times -- in

the styles of different musical theater composer-lyricists.

The show’s basic melodramatic plot is an ingenue who can’t pay the

rent and is threatened by her evil landlord. Will the handsome

leading man come to the rescue?

The show’s creators, Eric Rockwell (music) and Joanne Bogart

(lyrics) -- both collaborated on the book -- offer five separate

scenarios, each style easily recognizable to devotees of musical

theater.

There’s a Rodgers and Hammerstein version, set in Kansas in

August, complete with a dream ballet (think “Oklahoma”). There’s a

Stephen Sondheim version, featuring the landlord as a tortured

artistic genius who slashes the throats of his tenants in revenge for

not appreciating his work (“Sweeney Todd”).

There’s a Jerry Herman version as a splashy star vehicle (“Mame”

or “Hello Dolly”), an Andrew Lloyd Webber version, a rock musical

with themes borrowed from Puccini (“Phantom of the Opera”) and a

Kander & Ebb version, set in a speakeasy in the Windy City

(“Chicago”).

It all sounds blissfully inspired by the folks who created

“Forbidden Broadway,” and if that’s the case, it should be immensely

entertaining. Despite the staging of five separate versions, “The

Musical of Musicals -- the Musical” reportedly clocks in at about 75

minutes plus intermission.

The Laguna Playhouse will house this musical adventure through

July and August, with closing performances the day before Labor Day.

For further information, call the theater at (949) 494-2787.