What: SNAP stage comedy
Where: SNAP/Shelterbelt Theatre, 3225 California St.
When: Tonight through Dec. 12; 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 6 p.m. Sundays. Exceptions: No performance Thanksgiving Day; Dec. 12 performance at 2 p.m.
Tickets: $20 all seats
Information: 402-341-2757
Barbara Parkins, one of the stars of the 1967 movie “Valley of the Dolls,” perhaps said it best.
At a sold-out screening in 1997, Parkins told the pumped up crowd, “I know why you like it ... because it's so bad!”
Now SNAP Productions has mounted a stage parody of this laughable melodrama. SNAP has cast men as women and women as men, raising the odds you'll love this show for its badness.
“Valley of the Dolls,” by Jacqueline Susann, was the top-selling novel of 1966. In it, three women become friends as they start out in show business. Each becomes an abuser of “dolls,” slang for addictive, mood-altering pills, while falling for the wrong man. Or men.
In the movie, Parkins played Anne, a talent lawyer's secretary who falls for cad agent Lyon Burke and becomes a model. Sharon Tate was Jennifer, a chorus girl/sex object whose lover Tony has a fatal disease.
Patty Duke chewed the most scenery as Neely, a climber whose acting career is temporarily held back by aging musical diva Helen (Susan Hayward).
Neely becomes a big star but craters because of drug abuse, failed relationships and general nastiness.
None of the SNAP players looks like the film stars. Bad wigs, heavy makeup and wildly divergent gaps in age and body type only add to the campy fun.
SNAP has a history of doing this kind of thing, notably with its perennial cross-dressing hit “Christmas With the Crawfords.”
The set is just curtains and furniture. Period 1967 costumes, on the other hand, are a highlight, carefully chosen by Nancy Ross and Ron Osborn. Osborn, who plays Helen, has lovingly re-created many of Hayward's outfits from the film, and he's a stunner in them.
Since the movie script and acting were a study in wretched excess, it's no surprise that's what director M. Michele Phillips heaps on us in this production, often to hilarious effect. Brief songs by Neely, Helen and Tony add to the layered badness.
Every awful line and hysterical scene from the film pops up here, including the cat fight in which Neely tries to flush Helen's wig, Jennifer's post-abortion funk and disastrous calls to Mommy, Anne's heartbreak that Lyon won't marry her, and Neely's many screaming fits while swacked out on “dolls.”
The script's short, choppy scenes make pacing and flow a problem. Filmed segments with creative graphic effects by Mark Cramer fill an overhead screen to fill gaps. They're at least as hilarious as what happens onstage (Adam Nathan as the Gillian Girl is burned onto my brain). Outtakes roll at the end, next to faux movie credits.
Nine cast members, most in multiple roles, all excel at being intentionally awful, but Michal Simpson as Neely retains the scenery-chewing crown. He's very funny. Other highlights: Steven Knox's drag-queen take on Jennifer, Osborn's imperious witchiness as Helen (scary!) and Chelsea Long as troubador Tony.
The show lost some steam in the second act, but parody this broad is hard to sustain. Running time is about an hour and 45 minutes, including intermission.
Contact the writer:
444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com
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