If you go to the theater
for fun then this musical is your show. It’s madcap, silly and full of
surprises. The staging and choreography are delightful and the laughs keep on
coming. You see, there is a corpse from New Jersey who wants to go to Monte
Carlo – to dance, to scuba dive, and to meet beautiful women!
With a multi-million
dollar offer he can’t refuse, a rather reclusive young man in England agrees to
take him there. Well, all is not as it seems and, with hotel doors opening and closing,
with others who want to grab the prize, with a young lady from Brooklyn who
needs the money for a good cause, the suspense and the laughs build.
Young couple Brandon
Parrish and Claire Adams are sweetly romantic, with highly energetic backup by Gina
D’Acciaro, David Atkinson, Alastair James Murden and José Villarreal. Lively show-stealers Rory Patterson and Brian Habicht are matched by living-dead Vito Viscuso. At the opening show, choreographer Julie Hall stepped in for a missing
actor, while producer Catherine Gray nearly stole the show as brassy cabaret
singer Dominique.
Created by Broadway team Lynn
Ahrens (book and lyrics) and Stephen Flaherty (music) it’s a polished show and
sure crowd pleaser. Directed at full gallop by Stephen Van Dorn, with musical direction
by Taylor Stephenson.
At the David Schall Theatre
on the campus of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1760 N. Gower St. Through
June 18. Tickets: (323) 462-8460 or www.ActorsCo-op.org. Free parking.
Photos by Michael Lamont.
Also reviewed in the June
issue of NOT BORN YESTERDAY
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