`Dirty Little Showtunes' Has The Raunch On A Roll
Theater review "Dirty Little Showtunes" by Tom Orr. Directed by Keenan Hollahan; musical direction by D.J. Gommels. Re-bar, 1114 Howell St., Seattle; Fridays-Sundays through May 10. 206-323-0388.
So you feel you've explored every angle of "I'd Do Anything." And you think you've fully fathomed the implications of "Pick-A-Little, Talk-A-Little."
Well, think again.
Seattle lyricist Tom Orr (a former Seattle Times freelancer), in this "gay musical parody revue," has inflicted his homoeroticizing genius on some hallowed shrines of American musical theater. And some of them - "The Farmer and the Cowman," "How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?" - will never be the same.
This edition of "Dirty Little Showtunes" is a spiffed-up version of the show that ran last fall. It boasts a knockout ensemble cast, snappy direction by Keenan Hollahan (better known as Dan Savage), and some further marauding through the songbooks by Orr, as he alters lyrics a la "Forbidden Broadway" to give them a gay twist.
Showstoppers like "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Homosexual" (a Gilbert & Sullivan spoof) and "Oh, the Leatherman and the Drag Queen Should Be Friends!" (title self-explanatory) have been held over from the first edition. New and welcome on the roster are "Lie!" (a reinvention of "Shy" from "Once Upon a Mattress," in which the shyness problem is solved by fibbing on the Internet) and "Peepholes!" ("People," the Barbra Streisand classic, taking a lasciviously voyeuristic turn).
Most of this is "obscene, unclean, absurd," as the opening number acknowledges. But rarely has raunch been served up with such good humor or assured musical sense (piano accompanist D.J. Gommels can do no wrong).
The performers sing and cavort (nimble choreography courtesy of Oliver Woodall) with aplomb. Nick Garrison's "Modern Homosexual" is well on the way to becoming a local stage legend, and in torch-song numbers his voice is a like an eerily-in-tune Elaine Stritch. Phillip Booth goes from burly boy to girly-boy in the blink of an eye, to hilarious effect. Andrew Tasakos' slapstick timing, strong tenor and wanton insouciance make a winning combo.
Newcomer to the show Charles Crowley carries a fine tune as an S&M sex slave (and finds ecstatic meanings in a high-velocity "I Could Have Danced All Night"). Bay Area performer Billy De Herrera, who brings a more traditional drag artistry to the show, should perhaps let scientists study how he gets his facial tics to synchronize the way they do.
Still, this is Orr's baby, as every lyric - including his audience-suggested improv - indicates. He's got a great voice, too, and if he looks awfully pleased with himself (haven't seen a smile this smug since Gene Kelly's), who can blame him? He could probably bring out the lewd in "Climb Every Mountain" - and maybe he will, if his fans ask him nicely. Try him.