The funny thing about two-person quick-change comedies is that most of them really aren’t all that funny — at least on paper.
Audiences tend to love gimmicky “two-handers” like “Stones in His Pockets,” “The Mystery of Irma Vep” and “Greater Tuna” because, in performance, it’s impossible not to love the sheer energy and effort expended by the two poor saps who work themselves into a lather while rapidly changing costumes and generally humiliating themselves for our amusement.
Like “The Big Bang,” now playing at the Aurora Fox. It’s about two wannabe theater producers who have written the most lavish, expensive and seemingly pointless musical of all-time — recounting the history of the world in 12 hours (of which they are only going to present for us 90 minutes, whew!).
We’ve been invited into a borrowed Park Avenue apartment they proceed to trash while performing everything from, yes, the big bang to Woodstock, in the hope we’ll want to invest. In the biz, they call these soirees “backer’s auditions.” And all these two need to raise is $83 million.
It’s a fun-filled vehicle for two of Denver’s most likable actors — Gregory Price and Rob Costigan, and boy, do they drive that baby into the ground. They play the show’s actual writers, Jed Feuer and Boyd Graham. Possessing a dream but not a dime, the lads cleverly employ everything in arm’s reach in telling their peculiar takes on Adam and Eve, the pyramids, the Dark Ages and more.
That resourcefulness in the absence of real costumes and props is the show’s merriest strength. Everything from utensils to garlic strings to the kitchen-sink hose is put to use. The highlight comes when Price manages to transform into a Scarlett O’Hara-type using a drape ripped from the wall and two umbrellas.
The big problem with “The Big Bang” is what it’s “like.” It’s vaguely like “The Producers” — but it pales by all comparison to sheet-white. It’s more reductive of the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s 1993 “Complete History of America (Abridged).”
Ironically, the writers’ big inspiration was Judy Garland’s 1954 film “A Star Is Born.” Their show, with all its divas, drag and near- naked flamboyance, should play especially well to Judy’s fan base here as our actors transform into Eve, Nefertiti, Pocahontas, Spain’s Isabella, Tokyo Rose, Eva Braun and many more.
The bigger problem is that it’s never made clear whether it’s intentional that “The Big Bang” would make for “The Biggest Bomb” in Broadway history — though one scene pairing a Brooklyn-accented Virgin Mary with Gandhi’s mom argues for that.
But there’s no “wink.” In the end, are we expected to open checkbooks or toss tomatoes? The ending is so rushed and clunky that the only answer is, “I dunno.”
The biggest problem is that score’s pretty awful. Case in point: Braun singing, “Loving him is where I went wrong” of Hitler. (They sing to Martha Yordy’s live piano accompaniment.)
The big selling point is the actors themselves. The conceit presents a fun challenge for director Robert Wells’ creative team, also. The living-room “stage lights,” for example, are controlled by “The Clapper” That’s a hoot, but it’s not a consistently executed device.
“The Big Bang” is definitely of a particular comic taste. If a night of resplendent, cross- dressing vaudeville sounds like yours, you should love it. But if it’s not, “The Big Bang” might be more of a dud.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“The Big Bang” ** (out of four stars)
Musical. Aurora Fox, 9900 E. Colfax Ave. Written by Jed Feuer and Boyd Graham. Directed by Robert Wells. Starring Gregory Price and Rob Costigan. Through Oct. 11. 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. $20-$24. 303-739-1970,
Spotlight on: Rob Costigan, “The Big Bang”
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“This is my first two-man show, but more importantly and personally, I get to perform with my best friend, Gregg Price. . . . It’s also possibly the first time I will be naked onstage.” — Costigan, who plays Jed; most recently he was the Young Fool in the Arvada Center’s “Big River.”
The story: In this shamelessly quirky, interactive one-act musical by Jed Feuer and Boyd Graham, a pair of optimistic, entrepreneurial showmen seek investors for the world’s most lavish musical, budgeted at $83.5 million, with a cast of 318 actors, 6,428 costumes, 1,400 wigs . . . and 302 prosthetic devices.
The intrigue: The musical (within the musical) endeavors to tell the entire history of the world in less than 90 minutes. Costigan and Price last performed together in “Tomfoolery” at Theatre on Broadway 20 years ago. And the Aurora Fox celebrates its 25th anniversary with a gala performance Sept. 12.
Info: Sept. 11-Oct. 11, at 9900 E. Colfax Ave., 303-739-1970 or . (Note: adult language and innuendo).
