‘Bring It On: The Musical' rocks the Alliance Theatre

Loosely inspired by the franchise of flicks that started in 2000 with the Kirsten Dunst comedy of the same name, “Bring It On” finds its magic in director/choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler’s epic physicality, librettist Jeff Whitty’s indelible characters and a genre-dancing score by Tom Kitt, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Amanda Green.

To be truthful, the show needs a good trim, takes too long to set up its premise and gets more musical mileage from its distinctive raps than its watered-down pop. When Campbell (Amanda Lea LaVergne) -- the popular, pre-ordained cheer captain of upper-crust Truman High -- is mysteriously redistricted to the urban-flavored Jackson High (which doesn’t even have a cheerleading squad), she has to win the confidence of her new set. Jackson's crew is led by the saucy Danielle (Adrienne Warren) and a posse that includes the cross-dressing La Cienega (Gregory Haney).

In her banishment, Campbell leaves behind the wonderfully vacuous and rather wicked Skylar (the delightful Kate Rockwell) and the upstart Eva (Kelly Felthous), who has tearfully confessed her adulation of Campbell. And she takes with her the pudgy parrot-head mascot Bridget (the wonderful Ryann Redmond), who catches the eye of geeky rap boy Twig (Jon Rua). As the plot unspools to shades of “Wicked” and “Legally Blonde” (but mostly “All About Eve”), we learn that sweet little Eva isn’t what she appeared to be.

With the four competing stories of Campbell, Danielle, Eva and Bridget (plus their romantic journeys), the tale gets a little cluttered and spends a bit too much time at cheer camp. That said, it also finds great comedic payoff in its pompom tangle of clashing cultures. Not surprisingly, it’s the Jackson underdogs who have all the heart and spirit.

The sequence in which Campbell has to prove herself by dancing in an old Jackson mascot costume is raucously funny, and the tale of Bridget and Twig (who turns out to be a top-notch rapper) is pure genius. Whitty, who won a Tony for writing the book of “Avenue Q,” finds gold in his vividly colored riffs on the popular and the geeky, the mean and the sincere. There’s not a single adult character in a show that's forever fresh and surprising.

Once the material moves from uptight Truman to free-form Jackson, you hear the influence of "In the Heights” creator Miranda, while the duet for Campbell and Randall (Nick Blaemire) bears the urgent stamp of Kitt (who won a Tony and a Pulitzer Prize for “Next to Normal”).

Andrea Lauer stitches fabulous costumes that perfectly suit these princesses, homeboys, fashion victims, posers and Goths. So fun! Jason Lyons’ lighting and Jeff Sugg’s clever high-tech videos frame the story on David Korins’ set, which uses lots of moving lockers to approximate the high school milieu.

Finally, we can’t say enough good things about Blankenbuehler’s company of athletes and gymnasts, who push the notion of cheerleading stunt work to dazzling extremes. “Bring It On: The Musical” is pure honest fun and an instant winner. It’s gonna go all the way.

Theater review

“Bring It On: The Musical”

Grade: B+

Bottom line: A giddy new musical about the culture of cheer.