Some people will kick a man when he’s down. The Avenue Theatre will happily kick a beloved icon when he’s 6 feet under.
It was funny — diabolically so — when the twisted Rattlebrain Theatre took on John Denver in 2003. The original comedy team reimagined one of the most popular folk singers of the 1970s as Jim Aurora, a mediocre songwriter who finds serenity and inspiration in the miles and miles of tract housing that dot our sprawling suburb to the east.
“Almost Denver: Songs and Failures of Jim Aurora” was parody, roast and homage at once, delivered with frighteningly saccharine smiles and soothing harmonies. And it was a surprise, counter-culture phenomenon, stretching from a six-week run to six months.
That’s because comedy is always best when it is reacting to something. In ’03, Rattlebrain was not only face- smacking one of the most smackable pop stars in music history, it was taking on the behemoth Denver Center Theatre Company.
At the time, Rattlebrain was housed in the D&F Tower in what is now Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret. Two blocks to the west, the Denver Center was parlaying its saccharine tribute “Almost Heaven: Songs and Stories of John Denver” into the longest-running show in its history, with 179 performances.
At the time, both John Denver and the Denver Center seemed like fair game.
It was as if audiences were choosing sides. Some, like me, loved both hit shows. Because as ingeniously dumb as Rattlebrain’s parody was, its ensemble was as talented musically as they were comedically. The song parodies were as low as brows go — “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane” became “Heavin’ on a Jet Plane,” for example — but the instrumentation was so tight, the harmonies so gilded, that in an alternate universe, these smartypants could easily make a career as a John Denver tribute band. Think Super Diamond with granny glasses and blond wigs.
Rattlebrain, sadly, has since gone the way of John Denver, and like his weirdo fans cling to his memory, I’ve kept the Rattlebrainers unnaturally alive in mine, too.
But unlike dead singers, theater companies actually can rise from the dead. Rattlebrain has, sort of.
Three of the original cast (Michael O’Shea, Dave Shirley and Jane Shirley) are joined by Eric Mather and Dave Johnson for a return engagement at the Avenue Theatre that already has been extended through July 12.
Some songs have changed, some bits reworked (and not all for the better, especially at the top). But it’s still essentially the tale of Jim Blickenschtoffer (John Denver was born John Deutschendorf), a peacenik who lasts just 24 hours in Vietnam, but while there learns of the virtues of Aurora: “traffic congestion, prairie dogs and not a tree in sight.” Why, it’s almost heaven. Emphasis on almost.
Jim changes his surname to match his adopted hometown and joins a metal band named Black Dog Death that he changes to Yellow Puppy Happiness. You get the idea. All events somewhat mirror Denver’s own life journey, most savagely his experimentation with the self-realization movement Erhard Seminar Training (EST).
The attraction remains those silly, stalwart songs (“Annie’s Song,” a.k.a. “You Fill Up My Senses,” becomes a lovely “You Once Knocked Me Senseless”) that somehow manage to give both fan and foe of the singer something very much to like.
But “Jim Aurora Redux” doesn’t have the same stinging relevance or immediacy it had five years ago. The title’s pun certainly won’t ring many bells at this point. Without that Denver Center parallel, the show packs less of a punch. And with the dead singer as its only remaining target, it seems a little less merry and a little more mean.
Too, the Avenue hasn’t done it any favors by adding an intermission and stretching things from a taut 90 minutes to a less-sustainable 2 hours.
That said, this is an evening filled with lots of embarrassed laughter (you have to giggle when Jim dies of a paper airplane cut). It’s just not for the highfalutin or faint of heart (“Calypso” is now a yodeling castration song). Trust me: It’s funnier the more people you’re with, and the more you happen to drink.
An added bonus is the nifty art pieces lining the set. They’re sort of like stained- glass depictions of a guitar, a Colorado sunset and more. Only not glass. They’re created by students at Aurora’s William Smith High School.
As for the resurrected Rattlebrainbers: Gee, it’s good to have them back home again.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
Almost Denver: Songs and Failures of Jim Aurora” *** (out of four stars)
Parody/homage Avenue Theater, 417 E. 17th Ave. Through June 28. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays- Saturdays; also 2 p.m. June 8 and 15. $20-$24 (2-for-1 Thursdays). 303-321-5925 or .
