THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 11, 1994 TAG: 9411110084
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT THEATER CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
``TOMFOOLERY,'' a musical satire with something to offend everyone, is an occasionally hilarious antidote to political correctness. If you're tired of all the whining and hypocrisy, here is a medley of songs that hits all the targets that more timid theaters are afraid to mention.
The Actors' Theater, making its home at the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts, shows a bit of bravery, as well as imagination, by choosing this off-Broadway revue as the second production of the season. Three male and two female singer-dancers have a go at some 26 songs by Tom Lehrer.
It's a fast-moving and unpredictable evening in which there is some mischievous joy in contemplating how far they will go.
You get the idea early in the evening when it is announced they are to do a sweet song about spring in the park. The tune turns out to be ``Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.'' In rapid succession, the targets include the South, Catholics, gun folks, Christmas carols, masochism, drugs, social diseases, folk songs, old folks and Wernher Von Braun. If there isn't something here to insult you, you're just not taking a stand on ANYTHING.
``I Wanna Go Back to Dixie'' hails ``the land of boll weevils where the laws are Med-ie-val.'' There is ``The Vatican Rag'' in which they ``try to teach an old dogma new tricks.'' In ``Send in the Marines,'' military action is touted as a cure-all for most anything. In ``The Hunting Song,'' guns are a toy. In ``I Got It from Agnes,'' there's a laughable effort to figure who got what from whom. ``It'' is a social disease.
Since these songs were written in the '50s and '60s, it's surprising that many are more relevant now than they were when the show was a hit in Greenwich Village in 1980.
The spirited cast is accompanied by a nifty band. In a show that depends more on clever lyrics than the somewhat ordinary music, more articulation could be desired. For the most part, though, the message gets across - that no part of Americana is safe from Lehrer's wit.
Denise Crisp, a former Nellie Forbush in a local production of ``South Pacific,'' is vivacious, even in outlining the mother-love story of ``Oedipus Rex.'' Bruce Hanson, who was in ``Shenandoah'' locally and wrote ``The Peter Pan Chronicles,'' is on-target with the ``Dixie'' number. Pam Good has a fine moment in chronicling the story of the rocket scientist ``Werner Von Braun.'' Lee Clodfelter hits, among other things, feminism with ``She's My Girl.'' Paul Ricioppo does a plaintive version of ``The Old Dope Peddler'' - the current version of the guy on the corner.
The costuming is varied and interesting. Actually, it is a more visual production than the off-Broadway original.
With ``A Christmas Carol,'' there are tunes about money amid the mistletoe. With ``Smut,'' there are singers who like that kind of thing. Even old folks are targeted with the marked idea that, ``In all probability, I'll lose my virility / a factor that could lead to hostility.''
It has been said that satire closes on Saturday night, but since ``Tomfoolery'' has already run one Saturday night, it may be over the top. It deserves to find its audience. The ``Saturday Night Live'' fans should take a look at what more sane and focused satire is like.
This is a refreshing evening about depression. Given the fact that most of the targets are eminently targetable, you might as well laugh. MEMO: THEATER REVIEW
What: ``Tomfoolery,'' musical satire, with words and music by Tom
Lehrer
Where: The Actors' Theater in Virginia Beach Center for the Arts
Who: Directed by Joe Sasso, musical direction by Greg Silva,
featuring Lee Clodfelter, Bruce Hanson, Denise Crisp, Pam Good and Paul
Ricioppo
When: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., through Nov.
20
How Much? $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and military, $5 for
students. Call 557-0397 for further information or reservations ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Pamela Goode, from left, Bruce Hanson and Denise Crisp star in
``Tomfoolery'' at the Actors' Theater in Virginia Beach.
by CNB