Post by CMF Newsman on Jul 1, 2009 12:48:10 GMT -5
While watching the Chattanooga Theatre Centre’s production of Psycho Beach Party, we seriously feared for the health of the patron sitting behind us. Such a collection of guffaws, choking laughs, snorts and assorted other noises of amusement has rarely been heard. We were afraid he might die laughing before the fate of Chicklet and Star Cat could be revealed.
Fortunately, he survived, and so did we, which is why I am in a position to tell you that Psycho Beach Party is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen at the CTC. The Charles Busch camp-fest hangs ten (and everything else) in its full glory on the Circle Stage. Director, actors, designers all totally go for it, man, with death-defying results.
Anyone who’s watched the classic Gidget movie, with Sandra Dee, James Darren and Cliff Robertson will recognize basic plot elements immediately: Young Chicklet longs to surf with the boys, who macho-ly dismiss her, except for uber-surfer Kanaka, who takes her under his tanned wing. However, in Busch’s version, Chicklet has a small multiple-personality problem, none of the surfers are completely sure about their sexual orientation, and the aging starlet, Bettina Barnes, was added purely so that Busch himself could appear in fabulous drag.
In this production, credit director Magge Cabrera-Hudgins for assembling a super cast, allowing her designers flights of ’60s Malibu fancy, and moving her actors around the stage in a revolving circus of silliness. Production designer AnneMarie Brinton’s easily adapted, versatile set pieces keep the action moving (so essential in a piece like this), and her crowning achievement is the backlit surfing scene. Braxton Philips (who also plays none-too-bright surfer Dee Dee) designed the many and ridiculous costumes, including Bettina Barnes’s ensembles, which very nearly stole the show on their own. Roseda Seours did the “gowns” of Chicket’s mom, Mrs. Forrest, and they are also perfectly over the top.
More at chattanoogapulse.com/arts/arts-feature/arts-entertainment-waves-of-crazy-laughter-at-the-ctc/