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There's not a
children's library in the nation whose shelves don't groan beneath
the stacks of turgid books by Judy Blume, the renowned (or
notorious) author beloved by voracious armies of post-pubescent
teenage girls. Many of Blume's most "classic" works are anchored in
the 1970s context they came from -- and the combination of "free to
be, you and me" swinger philosophy with a seething ocean of pimply
tweener hormones is fecund enough to provide hilarious material for
playwright-director Gerald McClanahan's drolly snarky musical spoof.
Katherine (Bailee DesRocher) is a typical teenage girl, living in
the free-spirited 1970s. Like many other girls today, she dreams of
finding the perfect man who will take her virginity and love her
"forever." Unlike the girls of today, though, she wears ginormous
bell-bottoms and keeps her hair in a feathery flip-floppy 'do that
would have Farrah Fawcett gnashing her teeth in envy.
Katherine has her eye on burly class stud Michael (Chase Sprague),
whom she thinks would be the perfect candidate for that Special
Moment in Which a Girl Becomes a Woman. However, Katherine's hipster
parents (Carla Jo Bailey and Drew Droege), on their way out to their
regularly scheduled key party, just wish their daughter would loosen
up.
The goings-on are interspersed with heartfelt renditions of all
those horrific 1970s songs we all say we hate but secretly think are
the total bomb: DesRocher and Sprague's rendition of the cornball
classic "Feelings" is a delight, for instance, as is a fierce
production number of the cheese-ball hit "Having My Baby."
McClanahan's production is steeped in a gorgeously depicted 1970s
backdrop full of fondue pots, eight-track tapes, and references to
Plato's Retreat, but the nostalgic tone is handled with equal parts
ridicule and affection. Although the script suffers from a few
narrative lapses that are certainly the fault of the original,
rather flat, story, the ensemble's deadpan delivery sets up a
variety of hilarious situations. DesRocher's bubbly adolescent is a
stitch, and so is Sprague's anything-but-sexy turn as Katherine's
galumph of a boyfriend. However, Bailey's and Droege's wondrously
creepy performances as Katherine's swingin' parents steal the show
every moment they're on stage.
--Paul Birchall
© 2009 BackStage
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