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Psycho Beach Party Also see John's recent review of The Boys Next Door Charles Busch is the author and star of such plays as Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Times Square Angel, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset, You Should Be So Lucky, Queen Amarantha, Shanghai Moon and Flipping My Wig. He wrote the book for the musical The Green Heart, which was produced by Manhattan Theatre Club. He wrote a new libretto for the 1955 musical Ankles Aweigh for Goodspeed Opera and adapted the book of the Truman Capote/Harold Arlen musical House of Flowers for a tour with Patti LaBelle. In 1996, Mr. Busch starred in the Off-Broadway musical Swingtime Canteen, which he also co-authored. He has written the screenplay and is appearing in the film version of his play Psycho Beach Party, which opened this past summer. He also appeared in a recurring role in the HBO series Oz. Busch's latest play, The Tale of The Allergist's Wife, played a critically acclaimed run at the Manhattan Theatre Club and then moved to Broadway on Nov 2, 2000 where it earned two Tony Award nominations. Busch also won the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for Play writing for Allergist's Wife. Psycho Beach Party is a cult piece of campy theater about multiple personalities. It is the story of Chicklet Forrest, a teenage tomboy, who desperately wants to be part of the surf crowd on Malibu Beach in 1962. One thing getting in her way is her unfortunate tendency towards split personalities. Among them is a black check out girl, an elderly radio talk show hostess, a male model named Steve and others. Her most dangerous alter ego is a sexually voracious vixen named Ann Bowman who has nothing less than world domination on her mind. Ft. Worth Theater's Psycho Beach Party is a mixed bag. While the second act saves the evening, the first act just about drowns itself in mind numbing exposition and sporadic laughs as it tries to be campy fluff saluting the Frankie and Annette Beach flicks of the '60s right down to the surfer lingo, but instead comes up as limp as seaweed. There are a couple of good bits sprinkled here and there in the first act, but they are too few and far between. Director Dave Stovall successfully keeps the pace at brisk speed, just pushing on forward to get to the best parts of the piece. I really admire how Stovall knows where the loop holes are in the script and, instead of just slugging through them, he pushes the cast onward, getting to the funniest and best parts of the piece as fast as possible. Stovall is limited in what he can do in his blocking, which is not his fault, but is due to the dreadful configuration of the orchestra hall in which this production is mounted. Stovall has to beware of sight lines, dark patches of places where lighting just cannot reach, and the limited set to work on. This is not helped by the limited lighting units that are available. Thus the cast and director are boxed in an odd pool of light. Stovall does not allow this to hinder him, he keeps his cast high on energy and commitment, with some fantastic performances within the company of beach bums, bathing beauties, an airhead starlet, and the mother of all mothers. Star Cat, played by Scott Hardgrove, is a surfer who thinks with his crotch, always searcing for that next babe on the sands. Hardgrove uses his face as soft clay to create some very whimsical expressions. For the second act he evolves into a therapist with a Bert Parks/Game Show Host voice that achieves its goal of causing loud laughter from the audience. Hardgrove has a comic gem of a setup involving lip synching to a summer ballad, which has hilarious results thanks to his strong comic talents. Chicklet, the girl with all those various personalities using her mind and body like a human piņata, is portrayed by Sara Holder. After doing my research on this play and finding out that Busch not only wrote it, but also played Chicklet, I confess that I can see where it would really be extremely effective to have this role played by a male actor. Camp comedy is a very hard technique for any actor; it comes with its own set of rules on pace and timing. Ms. Holder is quite good and witty in the role, but she just does not get a really solid, firm grasp on the camp material. She does achieve laughs from the various characterizations that she must portray, but she does not go into the upper echelon of comedy that the role demands. The actress needs to have more creative choices in facial expressions, vocals, characters, and especially comic timing and pace. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy Holder's performance; I just wanted her to go more over the top and outlandish in what is clearly written into the role. Todd Camp is Yo-Yo, the member of this gang of surfing Malibu dudes who happens to possess the brightest blonde hair of all. Camp creates a gum chewing surfer who loves the water and the surfboard, but also decorating and doing hair, which leads to deeper secrets within himself. You see the character is gay, but doesn't know it. Most enjoyable about Camp's work are his choices on his character's subtext. Sometimes actors just fade into the background, not staying in character, when they are not saying lines. Camp is not one of these actors; instead, he stays in character throughout the evening. The actor has a hilarious second act monologue that comes complete with spiritual music when Yo-Yo comes out of the closet. Richard Shelton as Nicky may have the smallest role in the cast, but he wrings out a laugh many times thanks to his jocular facial expressions and witty comic timing. Bettina Barnes is played with sex and sass by Leslie Ann Perez Solis. Bettina is a D level star of such bad schlock horror films as "Sex Kittens Go to Outer Space" and "Pizza Waitress with Three Heads." The idea of not having this character played by the typical blonde was a stroke of genius! Solis is a dark haired beauty with a voluptuous body, but with a voice that sounds like a lisping Blanche Dubois imitating Marilyn Monroe. Solis comes equipped with rim shot comic timing that has the audience laughing at Bettina's airhead comments and predicaments. This leaves Mrs. Forrest, Chicklet's mother, played by male actor Lon Barrera, although the program lists Silvia De La Garza as Mrs. Forrest. Men in drag will always achieve loud guffaws from the audience, period. But then after two or three minutes, this physical joke is done. It's from that point on that the actors are separated from the drag queens. You can only carry this sight gag so far, and from there the actor must use his craft of acting, his comic timing, pace, energy, and other elements to create a character that lets the audience buy into the fact that the character is a woman. Lon Barrera achieves this hands down! I say in all honesty, he gives the most hysterical performance he has ever given on the stage boards as the conservative Mrs. Forrest. Barrera brings a multifarious homage to those old film stars in his zany, over the top characterization of this all-American mom. He has some superb comic scenes in act two that back up the simple fact that he is the star of the evening. From his cat fight (showing panties, girdle, and pantyhose - oh Mrs. Forrest!) to his dream sequence of being a boozed up hooker, it is priceless comedy! The cast and production staff had to mount this production on what seems to be a very tight budget. The set is extremely scaled back and bare. It basically is black flats, two tikis, and upstage in the middle is some odd configuration that is draped with a massive cream cloth, with a couple of beach balls on it. This is to symbolize the beach. They show the audience that they were not going to let the limitations of funds hurt their enthusiasm and commitment in providing their audience an evening of theater. Like a Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland "Let's find a barn" MGM musical, they do what they can with what they have, and that should be applauded. Psycho Beach Party does have a bland first act to get through, but it's that second act that is worth the price of admission. What helps that troublesome first act go by faster is the pace, dedication, and energy of its cast and direction. Fort Worth Theatre, Inc. presents its annual 'Labor of Love' production of Charles Busch's Psycho Beach Party. January 24 - February 16, 2002 Orchestra Hall, 4401 Trail Lake Blvd. Tickets are $15, $12 for seniors, $10 for students reserved. Showtime is 8 p.m. A percentage of the proceeds will go to the AIDS Interfaith Network. To order tickets call (817) 921-5300. For more information, visit the website at www.fwtheatre.homestead.com Psycho Beach Party by Charles Busch Director: Dave Stovall CAST Chicklet: Sara Holder |
