Access Atlanta > Arts > Our Reviews > Archives > 2004 > September > 23
Thursday, September 23, 2004
‘Debbie’ does Dad’s Garage
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW. Through Oct.. 23
“Debbie Does Dallas� will never be confused with a feminist manifesto, but the Dad’s Garage production of the new musical-comedy version does the improbable.
It trims the sex, if not the bawdiness, from the pathetically plotted porn film (1978) and turns it into a hilarious — and still plenty naughty — romp that parodies the XXX genre while pointing fingers at other libertines: macho football players and the sugar daddies of Main Street.
Director Kate Warner and her shamelessly funny cast even manage to squeeze an extra smidgen of social commentary into Erica Schmidt’s adaptation of the otherwise lame script about the high school cheerleader (an ideal Kristie KrabeCQboth) who, with the help of her friends, works to finance a trip to Big D for her tryout with the Texas Cowgirls, aka the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.
Consider Tammy (Tim Stoltenberg). The fact that the most virtuous cheerleader on the squad, the one with all the political ambition, is cast against type (well, gender) is just one indication that there’s more at stake here than a bunch of groping and salacious innuendoes.
But not much more.
Even as “Debbie Does Dallas� airbrushes the hard-core moments — the lustier encounters are silhouetted behind a row of screens; the only nudity is a male posterior — the show still looks to score with its promise of cheap fantasy fulfillment, forbidden temptations and wink-wink outrage.
And, boy, does it succeed. After its gleeful, mock-sensual opening (fans blowing, temptress posing), “Debbie� takes off on a 90-minute ride and hardly comes up for air. (There’s no intermission.) From the dead-on dim-bulb cheerleaders to the horny hopelessness of the merchants who buy their services — that giant sucking sound you hear is the convulsive Doyle Reynolds as Mr. GreenfeltCQ — this fast, fabulously timed show zips along and spares no one.
The 10 songs by Andrew Sherman, Tom Kitt and Jonathan CallicutCQ/all are sweetly subversive and mostly forgettable, with the exception of one production number that employs a chorus line and their sex toys. When you’re not laughing and/or cringing, you’ll find yourself wondering, �Are they allowed to do that in public?�
Apparently, they are. And they do. After all, this is fringe comedy unabashedly served with attitude and nerve. It also travels far beyond the borders of good taste. So note the big red-flag warning: If you’re offended by just about any kind of sexual-oriented material, please don’t go.
The rest of you fall in line. You know you want it..
THE VERDICT: Funny stuff. A porno musical, with tongue in cheek, among other places.
8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 5 p.m. Oct. 3. Through Oct. 23. Dad’s Garage Theatre Company, 280 Elizabeth St., Atlanta. 404-523-3141. www.dadsgarage.com.
‘Urban Fairy Tale’ — a world premiere at Theatre in the Square
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW: Through Oct. 3.
Two years ago, Phillip DePoy combined his twin passions, detective fiction and drama, into “Easy — The Play,â€? a suspenseful comedy about a disappearance along the city’s most noirish and naughty strip of real estate, Ponce de Leon Avenue.
Now DePoy (“Appalachian Christmas�) and co-author Lee Nowell have fashioned “Urban Fairy Tale,� a story of romance and regret with a tentative happy ending. The world premiere runs through Oct. 3 at Theatre in the Square.
In the crisply written and delightful first act, Matthew Myers and Heather Starkel play a man and woman with no first names but some serious relationship baggage. Nervously preparing for a blind date, they explain why their unlucky affairs have curbed their enthusiasm for romance.
In what's essentially a series of monologues, the unwilling couple inhabits a single space meant to describe their separate abodes. To the whimsy of Louis Armstrong, he does a little bump and grind, while she has a sip of wine.
They pace.
They fret..
They have innumerable fashion dilemmas.
They almost call the whole thing off.
Cleverly directed by Montica Pes, these two are practically on top of one another — before they can even meet. In one deliciously conceived bit of choreography, they lie in bed in their underwear while venting their frustrations. Pillow wars?
Starkel's character is a self-described “candlestick maker� who once dated a dreamy painter with a multiple-personality disorder; Myers’ “artisan baker� had a wife but couldn't keep her. (She was wanted for murder in Israel — no kidding.)
Starkel, a sublime concoction of Audrey Hepburn and Lili Taylor, describes her creepy romance with poetry and poignance; Myers’ schtick is more straightforward, but he’s funny.
Where the play goes abruptly off course is in the second act, when the two actually meet at a strange cafe with a phantom waiter, who puts whatever they need on the bar without showing his face. (Now who would want that part?) If this is supposed to be magic, it's self-conscious and clunky.
After the frothy and entertaining beginning, the fable of the baker and candlestick maker has an unfortunate twist. Though we had every indication that theirs would be a happy match, Cupid almost fails them, and the writers surely do. The story and the dialogue capsize, taking the almost frightened-looking performers with them.
This is not to say that every romance must end in bliss, or tears. But in struggling for a kind of middle ground, DePoy and Nowell create an uncomfortable glass slipper of a play that doesn’t quite dance. It’s as if the clock struck midnight before they found a suitable resolution. But there’s enough good material here to merit a rewrite. And sometimes the second date’s the charm.
THE VERDICT: Contemporary valentine misses the mark.
8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Through Oct. 3. $15-$20. Theatre in the Square, 11 Whitlock Ave., Marietta. 770-422-8369, ww.theatreinthesquare.com.
Permalink | |
Mod ‘Macbeth” at PushPush
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW: “Macbeth� Through Oct. 9
Rarely has a Shakespeare classic emerged with more biting relevance than in PushPush Theater’s “Macbeth.� The company characterizes its production as “reimagined,� but in fact it remains mostly (“90 percent�) true to the original text. Be it 17th-century king or modern U.S. president, this “Macbeth� describes the story of one man’s rise to power and the bloody reign of terror that ensues.
When we first meet Macbeth, he is but a mere general, an empty suit in warrior’s clothing. Learning that he might one day assume the presidency, er, throne of Scotland, he is persuaded by others more powerful than him (Lady Macbeth) to go ahead and murder the current king (King Duncan) and take over.
With typical cowardice, he stabs the benevolent king in his sleep (a guest in Macbeth’s own castle, at that). His mission accomplished, Macbeth becomes heady with power, discovering a latent fondness for murder and bloodshed. He and his kin ultimately meet their just reward, but not without leaving a wretched path of destruction behind.
“Macbeth,� Shakespeare’s most violent work, describes the cataclysmic effect when power is placed in the wrong man’s hands.
PushPush pulls the play seamlessly into the 21st century using minimal trappings: a bare-boned stage, a video screen, a few spot-on props and costumes. Lady Macbeth first appears in contemporary garb, her plain black pants, top and heels the perfect complement to the huge cowboy hat that sits atop her ponytail. (After the murder, her husband wears it; of course, it’s way too big for him.) For most of the evening, she totes a bottle of vodka in one hand and a plastic martini glass in the other.
Shelby Hofer’s portrayal of the brains behind the throne is captivating and powerful, whether she’s ordering her husband around or delivering the famed “Out, out damned spotâ€? as a laundry commercial.
As the mighty Macbeth, Matt Stanton uses his thin frame to project a physically limp and spineless presence, nonetheless compelling as he rages about in guilt-induced, fear-driven angst. His and Hofer’s delivery of Shakespeare’s verse is consistently, cuttingly incisive.
Appropriately garbed in fatigues, goggles and aviator cap, with a huge machine gun resting on his shoulder, Wade Tilton creates Macbeth’s erstwhile friend Banquo — full of “hail fellow well met� good nature while alive, and menacing revenge as the dead man’s ghost. The chain-dragging in the latter guise is especially effective.
Brad Brooks is the benevolent King Duncan, aw-shucks Texas drawl and all, as well as the vengeful McDuff. Smaller roles are played by Zoë Cooper, Rachel Isley and Daniel Hollingsworth, whose prowess on skateboard is put to effective use. Dave Bruckner’s videography further blurs the line between Shakespeare’s original plot line and its 21st-century implications, creating a not-so-subtle commentary on the bloody proceedings.
THE VERDICT:: Shakespeare as contemporary political satire. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. 7 p.m. Sundays. Through Oct. 9. $10-$16. PushPush Theater, 121 New St., Decatur. 404-377-6332; www.pushpushtheater.com
