In the first scene of the first episode of “Starship Troy,” a garbage spaceship careens to Earth and crushes the cast of “Magnets on the Fridge.” Couch and all.
Only Buntport Theater would introduce its new live bi-weekly sitcom by obliterating its old one. It not only incinerated the 50 hours of material that became its meal ticket over the past five years, it did so with malicious glee.
Those sentimental kids.
At Buntport, familiarity breeds nervous tics. That’s how they’ve cranked out 20 original mainstage productions in addition to “Magnets,” its midweek phenom that accomplished something unprecedented in town: It became “appointment theater” for hundreds of fans, bi-week after bi-week.
Naturally it will take some time for “Starship Troy” to win over “Magnets” fans. The stakes are much higher now than in 2001, when Buntport came up with its silly idea for staging an ongoing live sitcom. No one was paying attention, so “Magnets” had time to build into a cult hit.
But fans expected “Starship Troy” to fire on all comic cylinders from the start, which was unrealistic given that these characters are new, and the exhausted company is simultaneously readying its newest mainstage production, “Winter in Graupel Bay,” for a Friday opening.
The show’s irresistible tagline: “The crew of the Troy is out to clean up the universe … one load at a time!” But the Nov. 21-22 pilot, while good-natured, was a bit lackluster – more inspired in premise than practice. Each of the five actors will play two characters, but there was no need to introduce all 10 in the 45-minute pilot.
Captaining this flying dump truck is the thesaurus-wielding Bernard Bimple (Erik Edborg), whose wonderfully snarky sister Bernice (Hannah Duggan) is conjoined by dryer-vent tubing.
Among the many fun new characters is an ape officer named Shamu (Brian Colonna). A “schmandroid” named Spanks (Erin Rollman) has eyes in the back of her head – and her hindsight is 20-20 (rimshot). Evan Weissman plays a playboy and a prince. The audience favorite by far, for sheer originality, was Duggan as a ship stylist Jean D’aeux, inspired by John Waters.
But meeting all 10 at once was too much information, too little time for comedy. Better to have let us gradually discover these quirky oddballs over several episodes. Even the self-deprecating Buntporters realized the problem. The businesslike pilot ended with a Shatner-esque Bimple wondering significantly: “We need a plot. Where … will … we … get … one?”
The funniest exchange had Colonna mistaking “astigmatism” for two words, which was a “Magnets” homage – the bit first appeared in that 2001 pilot.
Fun stuff: The ship’s navigational controls are Yamaha and Casio keyboards. There’s tinfoil everywhere – easily $532 worth. A running gag will have Ensign McCoy, played by a rotating audience member, offed anew every outing. Each episode is a mission based on an audience-
suggested pop-culture title. Next up: “Weekend at Bernie’s.”
“Troy” is a bit vague for now but has a great spirit, fearless costumes and a premise with legs. The trick is for the writers to take the show beyond mere sci-fi parody. With the pilot’s many references to “Star Trek,” “Star Wars” and “Doctor Who,” that may prove difficult.
Each episode also apparently ends with a card game. I’m a bit hazy on where these Buntporters are taking us, but based on their hard-earned track record, I can enthusiastically say – deal me in.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
“Starship Troy” | *** RATING
LIVE SITCOM SERIAL | Presented by Buntport Theater, 717 Lipan St. | Collaboration between Erin Rollman, Brian Colonna,
Hannah Duggan, Evan Weissman, Erik Edborg, SamAnTha Schmitz and Matt Petraglia | THROUGH MAY 23 | 8 p.m. every other Tuesday and Wednesday (next performances: Dec. 5-6) | 45 minutes | $5-$7 | 720-946-1388, buntport.com
