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.
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