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Friday, June 15, 2001

The Grave White Way

With The Grave White Way, Joe Patrick Ward (book, music and lyrics) has created an ambitious revue of imagined Broadway "flops" that lampoon such classic Broadway fare as Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Of Mice and Men, A Chorus Line, The Miracle Worker, Grease and Miss Saigon.  Under the adroit direction of Sarah Gurfield, the musical staging of Kay Cole, an exquisite six-member ensemble of Craig A. Curtis, Lesli Margherita, Amy Rutberg, Joshua Finkel and Shannon Stoeke "sell" the work.

There are some outstanding voices and thoroughly committed performers giving their all down in a show-biz purgatory where six failed Broadway actors are condemned to perform their flops for all eternity. A guest star turns up every week to perform a Broadway flop of his or her own. Guests include Davis Gaines, Loretta Devine, Richard Kline and Yvette Cason.

The regulars include power-lunged Lindsay (Margherita), ragingly over the top as the heroine of Riverboat Regina, a comically macabre sendup of Jerome Kern's classic Show Boat. Lindsay practically devours everything in her path in her lustfully angst-driven rendition of "My Parents Like Him So."

Margherita's Lindsay invests the same kind of slapstick pizazz as Helen Keller's self-serving mentor, Annie Sullivan, belting Oh Helen! (based on the play The Miracle Worker) and as the ghoulish Lizzie Borden ("Bury the Hatchet").

In sharp contrast to the ever-effusive Lindsay, the wonderfully understated Amanda (Rutberg) deadpans her way through "Be Afraid" (from the musical Jurassirrific!, spoofing the film Jurassic Park). She also leads the ensemble through the rock-tinged "Who's the New Guy?" from the musical Nazareth High, a clever joining of Grease and Jesus Christ Superstar. Greg (Curtis) and Sheldon (Stoeke) are quite nimble as Oscar Wilde and his lordly lover, scampering through "Chummy Chum Chum" (from the musical I'm Just Wilde About Oscar). The duo also are perfectly cast as the dimwitted Lenny and his long-suffering pal George in the hilarious "The Mice, the Men, the Music and Me."

Jacob (Finkel) displays both his vocal and terpsichorean wares to great effect as the eternally optimistic Father Damian, leading his woebegone lepers in song and dance through "However Bad It Is, It Could Be Worse" (from the musical, Look Before You Leper). He also joins Lindsay in a comical sendup of the simplistic lyrics of Miss Saigon ("My Heart Is in My Chest" from Lady Hiroshima). Wolfe (Ward) is quite endearing as the composer/on-stage pianist who is forever hopeful that his creative efforts will get their heavenly reward. His "Curtain Down" is a genuine testament to the sad realization of having suffered another flop.

The most satisfactory aspect of the production is Cole's amazingly accurate parodies of the choreographic styles of such dance legends as Agnes DeMille, Michael Bennett and Bob Fosse. The ensemble's hilarious "Goin' to the Cockfights" (from the musical Wichita) is a dead-on spoof of DeMille's work in the classic Oklahoma!. The same can be said for her faux Fosse staging of "Join the Chorus While You Can" (from the apocalyptic musical Do I Hear a Boom?). Of course, her adroit re-creation of Bennett's style in "Wow" and "Just Too Dumb to Know" (from the musical An Ensemble of Insignificant Non-Speaking Roles That Sing and Dance in the Background) can be attributed to Cole having been featured in the original Broadway production of Bennett's legendary A Chorus Line.

"THE GRAVE WHITE WAY"

Where: Hudson Backstage Theatre, 6537 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday; through July 15.

Tickets: $27.50 to $30. Call (310) 289-2999.