There is a target audience for the Aurora Fox’s relentlessly cheerful “Moby Dick! The Musical.” And last Friday, the actors harpooned them with the marksmanship of a Pequod mariner. They stood. They cheered.
I have no idea who these people are.
Beyond a few too many obvious . . . well, let’s stay consistent and just say “harpoon” euphemisms, this peculiar “Dick” musical is as clean as a newly scrubbed ship’s deck. And when your show poster says, “We put the naughty in nautical!” yes, that’s a disappointment.
This show bowed at a gay British roller disco under the title “A Midsummer Night’s Dick,” so I was prepared to be pushed to the very boundaries of good taste, perhaps in league with “Rocky Horror” (which in 2005 starred “Moby Dick” director Nick Sugar).
Turns out it’s a hyperliterate, high-spirited (to the point of face-slapping) and good-natured spoof for fans of Herman Melville’s novel, the 1954 film “The Belles of St. Trinian’s” and the music of Gilbert & Sullivan. (Hey, so that’s who those cheering people were).
The premise sounds just a little too “Nunsensical”: To save their bankrupt school, the girls of St. Godley’s Academy put on a musical version of “Moby Dick” written by a smarty-pants student (Lauren Dennis).
Like Jimmy Carter, it’s got traces of lust buried deep in its apple-pie heart: When we first meet the anarchic Godley girls, one of their fellow students is bound (though for no apparent reason — the script calls for the school security guard to be the one in ropes).
You presume the comedy will come from all these young women performing a primarily male story, but not really. The guard and janitor (vigorously played by Rob Costigan and Matt LaFontaine) are lobbied into service, as well as some teen boyfriends. And while the headmistress is a man in drag (marking the welcome return of Mark Devine), he plays Ahab pretty much as a straight-up man, so that’s a confusing device. Pip’s supposed to be played by a man, too, but here he’s a girl, which mutes the potential comedy of Pip’s crush on Ahab.
Once the musical-in-a-musical begins, it’s clear this will be a high-energy homage. The subversive buzz is a herring; its real appeal lies simply in the creative staging of it. Sugar’s massive effort is endlessly inventive and laden with requisite gags and props. And it’s well-performed by an enthusiastic ensemble whose vocal and dance talent is always evident.
I just didn’t laugh. Not really. I applauded its expertise and cleverness, like when a 45-degree sheet covers the entire stage and stuffed marine life pops out of pre-cut holes. But you have to be a Melville or G&S fanboy to be allowed in on all the satire. Or British. Alas, I’m 0 for 3.
Actually, I did laugh out loud once, but it wasn’t the show’s fault. It was a cherubic Scott McLean rolling across the stage a la King Triton in Heelys — Sugar’s poke at “The Little Mermaid.” McLean steals the show but, then again, that was really just another inside joke.
The treacly and tangential score has a few peppy tunes that won’t leave your head even with the help of a Brillo pad, including the title tune and the do-woppish “Whale of a Tale.” Probably the best vocal moment is LaFontaine’s “Jonah Fell.” The script makes a big deal out of one of the numbers being presented in 3-D, but if it happened here, I missed it.
After a while, I lost myself in pleasant memories of Buntport Theater’s superior original adaptation of “Moby Dick” last year.
But I was clearly a man on an island, because this crowd loved it. Maybe it’s because “Moby Dick” was the second play I’d seen that day. Maybe it’s because I chose to sit in the first row of the balcony. I always do that because the sightlines at the Aurora Fox are so much better from up above, but no doubt in all of the choral madness, I missed many of the rapid-fire inside jokes and double-entendres.
I left just happy that most everyone else seemed to have had a good time.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Moby Dick! The Musical”
Mirthful musical Aurora Fox, 9900 E. Colfax Ave. Written by Robert Longden, Hereward Kaye and Martin Koch. 2 hours, 20 minutes. Through March 30. 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. $22-$26. 303-739-1970 or
This weekend’s openings
“Dar Al-Harb” This original world-premiere play by Murray Ross imagines the fateful year Sayyid Qutb, founder of modern Islamic radicalism, came to Greeley in 1949 to pursue his master’s in education. Through April 6. TheatreWorks, at Bon Vivant Theater, 3955 Cragwood Drive, 719-262-3232 or .
“The Last Session” Steve Schalchlin wrote this 1998 musical when he was told he was terminal. It’s about a composer dying of AIDS who summons his friends for a final recording session before his presumed death. Through April 19. Theatre Group, 1124 Santa Fe Drive, 303-777-3292 or theatre .
“Naked B4 God: Exposing the Hypocrisy of Ted Haggard” Mike Jones plays himself in Neal Davis’ one-man play about the male prostitute and drug dealer who brought down the Colorado Springs reverend in a highly publicized sex scandal. Through March 22. The Bug Theatre, 3654 Navajo St., 888-768-7469 or .
“I Hate Hamlet” A TV star has it all: celebrity, acclaim, a beautiful girlfriend, the perfect New York apartment and the chance to play Hamlet in Central Park. Now he’s being pestered by the ghost of John Barrymore. Through April 6. At 27608 Fireweed Drive, 303-674-4934 or .
“1918” Horton Foote’s drama is loosely based on the real-life events of a family facing the twin fears of World War I, and the deadly influenza epidemic. Through April 4. And Beyond Theatre Company, at the Historic Grant Avenue Theatre, 216 S. Grant St., 303-641-8796 or .
“The Odd Couple” Neil Simon’s classic comedy about two divorced men who could not be more different sharing an apartment. Through May 4. Union Colony Dinner Theatre, 802 Ninth Ave., Greeley, 970-352-2900 or .
Weekly podcast
Running Lines with … Susie Leiser
This week, Denver Post theater critic John Moore is joined the star of Miners Alley Playhouse’s “Beau Jest” through April 13. Listen by
. You’ll be taken to a miniplayer. There, click on the triangular “play” button, and the podcast will begin playing without your having to download. Or, right-click on the “download MP3” option to save a copy to your own desktop.
This weekend’s best bets
Today and Sunday. Opera. Colorado Shakespeare Festival producing artistic director Philip Sneed will play the part of the jailer, Frosch, in the University of Colorado College of Music’s operetta “Die Fledermaus (The Bat),” at 7:30 p.m. today and at 2 p.m. Sunday at CU’s Macky Auditorium. The Johann Strauss operetta is a mix of masquerade and merriment, waltzes and polkas celebrating the spirit of 19th century Vienna. $10-$35. 303-492-8008 or visit .
Theater. Sunday. Speaker series. The Bas Bleu Theatre’s ongoing speaker series will feature Denver Center Theatre Company artistic director Kent Thompson at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at 401 Pine St., Fort Collins. Thompson will be interviewed by Dr. Morris Burns for 40 minutes, followed by 40 minutes of questions and answers. Wine and cheese provided. $10-$15. 970-498-8949 or
