Golden – Some shows are better than others at the Heritage Square Music Hall, and plenty have been better than “Blackbeard.” But I’ve never had less than a good time there. Not in two decades.
So much to love: 7 p.m. weeknight starts … Being asked about 247 times how you’re doing, even if you aren’t carrying a notebook … Ragtime maestro Randy Johnson’s fingers on ivory … Annie Dwyer’s lipstick on a bald guy’s head. Ah, that shtick just never gets old. Never.
The dinner turns buffet into bona fide gourmet (seriously). And if you’re running late, you can have an assembly line of fried snacks brought right to your table. Kick up your feet and laugh while sucking down baskets of fries, chicken tenders and cheese sticks. Sure, you’ll be a ticking coronary time bomb, but did you know laughing improves the cardiovascular system by lowering blood pressure and increasing heart rate? You’ll get a lot of that kind of exercise at Heritage Square.
Here’s how it works: After dinner, you move into the Old West theater for a silly two-act amusement – recent offerings include “Phantom” and “Svengali.” (They’re also big on pop-themed shows such as the upcoming “Too Old to Be Loud.”) Then comes a blow-you-away song-and-dance revue that reminds audiences these are among the most talented and versatile performers on any local stage.
With this veteran ensemble, laughs are guaranteed. How many varies from night to night and title to title. “Blackbeard” is back for a third time purely for sentimental reasons – this was the show that launched T.J. Mullin’s stewardship of the Music Hall in 1988. It’s written and directed by Frank Oden, who is also back onstage here for the first time in a decade playing the pirate captain who apparently terrorized funny bones all along the Atlantic Coast from 1716-18.
Oden’s script is just plain dumb, even for Heritage Square. Not just dumb – this is dim-witted, dumb-as-a-box- of-rocks low-brow comedy. How low? We’re talking sea level in the foothills. Seriously, “Blackbeard” makes “Pirates of the Caribbean” seem like an arthouse film. And yet the adoring crowd guffaws to the point of embarrassment. That’s because these are great comedians, and they employ a bulletproof system of comedy-by-numbers that doesn’t much change from show to show.
Veterans like Tom Mullin, Alex Crawford and Rory Pierce are up to their usual antics, and the awful purty ingénue Kira Cauthorn is settling in nicely as the resident ingénue. And an occasional infusion of new faces keeps things fresh. Here Vanessa Bowie is a hoot playing busty, brainless and breathless Mrs. Reed, the sexually frustrated widow who’s been captured by pirates two decades after they offed her husband.
Regulars will notice there’s something slightly, but not catastrophically, off about the comic timing, which is to be expected with personnel changes to a such a longstanding ensemble.
What disappointed me was the post-show musical comedy revue, always my favorite part of the evening. This time, there’s not much music with the comedy – just a continuation of the “Dumb & Dumber” theme. It’s is an endless homage to the bad joke, which is what “Blackbeard” already had been about. I missed the contrast of preceding revues.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
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“Blackbeard”
MUSICAL SILLINESS | Heritage Square Music Hall, 18301 W. Colfax Ave., Golden. | Written by Frank Oden and Reno Goodale | Directed by and starring Frank Oden | THROUGH MAY 27 | 7 p.m. Wednesday-Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays (dinner 90 minutes before) | 2 hours, 55 minutes | $23.50-$36.50 | 303-279-7800 or hsmusichall.com.
