MESSAGE
| DATE | 2002-11-01 |
| FROM | From: "Inker, Evan"
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] NYLXS Membership Night Out? It could work...
|
Cheerleaders Put the Fun in Fund-Raising
By BRUCE WEBER
It isn't really; it's live, late-night television: shamelessly silly,
shrewdly and smugly self-aware, proud of being naughty. There are plenty of
giggles for those who arrive at the Jane Street Theater, where the show
opened last night (after a premiere, à la "Urinetown" at the New York
International Fringe Festival), with a high tolerance for prurient humor.
This is a show that requires a self-selecting audience; you know who you
are.
There is nothing consequential or even particularly clever in the book, the
music or the lyrics. Some of the dirty jokes are very witty; some are
decidedly not. Some are obvious. (There are a lot of bananas, for example,
and one big red candle.) Some are downright revolting, though granted that's
a matter of personal taste. As for the onstage gymnastics, they are not
subtle in their suggestiveness, but the only nudity, oddly enough, is male.
The real credit (if that's the right word) for the show goes to Susan L.
Schwartz, who somehow conceived the notion that the story of a bunch of high
school cheerleaders who giddily perform sexual favors to earn money for a
trip to Dallas could work on the stage. (By the way, I'm assuming that's the
story of the film; readers will forgive me, I hope, for not doing a critic's
standard source material research.)
What Ms. Schwartz really conceived was an attitude, an extreme archness that
sends up itself along with the clichés exploited by pornography: the
hormone-addled high school football star, the leering older man and the
various species of teen-age girl. That spirit is nicely translated by the
director, Erica Schmidt (who also wrote the book), and by a very game cast,
all of whom seem to be having great fun while they wait for better jobs. The
women especially - Sherie Rene Scott, Mary Catherine Garrison, Caitlin
Miller, Tricia Paoluccio and Jama Williamson - acting all atwitter, are, for
lack of a better word, adorable.
I hesitate to say this, but judging by the number of young couples in the
audience who were apparently enjoying themselves, "Debbie Does Dallas"
probably makes quite the ice-breaking date, at least for people who aren't
easily embarrassed.
DEBBIE DOES DALLAS
Adapted by Erica Schmidt; composed by Andrew Sherman; conceived by Susan L.
Schwartz; based on the film, by special arrangement with VCX Ltd.; directed
by Ms. Schmidt; choreography by Jennifer Cody; additional music and lyrics
by Tom Kitt and Jonathan Callicutt; sets by Christine Jones; costumes by
Juman Malouf; lighting by Shelly Sabel; sound by Laura Grace Brown; musical
supervision, Mr. Kitt; production manager, Kai Brothers; production stage
manager, Megan Schneid; associate producers, Ms. Schwartz, Clint Bond Jr.
and Aaron Harnick; general mangement, the Araca Group. Presented by the
Araca Group, Jam Theatricals and Waxman Williams Entertainment. At the Jane
Street Theater, 113 Jane Street, Greenwich Village.
WITH: Paul Fitzgerald (Hardwick, Bradley, Nick, Tim, Ashley, Johnny), Mary
Catherine Garrison (Lisa), Caitlin Miller (Tammy), Tricia Paoluccio (Donna),
Del Pentecost (Greenfelt, Biddle, Kevin), Sherie Rene Scott (Debbie), Jon
Patrick Walker (Rick, Hamilton, Bigtime) and Jama Williamson (Roberta).
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/27/arts/theater/27ZINO.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/30/arts/theater/30DEBB.html
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