| Debbie Does a Gang Bang Up Job! | |
by Theater Columnist Robert Newton
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A new musical inspired by the classic porn flick Debbie Does Dallas recently opened Off Broadway at the Jane Street Theatre and has already been generating quite a buzz within the New York theatre circles. The original idea was conceived and brought to life by Susan L. Schwartz for the 2001 NYC International Fringe Festival (the same year Urinetown was picked from the festival and taken to Broadway by the Araca Group). The Araca Group remembered Mrs. Schwartz's 2001 bold efforts and gave the piece a shot, and after a lot of hard work the gamble seems to be paying off. Erica Schmidt's clear adaptation and efficient directing brings this coming-of-age story (no pun intended) to the stage with great humor, sparkling talent, full clothing and -surprise surprise - even a universal message!
Debbie, (superbly performed -with a touch of well suited self irony- by Sherrie Rene Scott), is a young cheerleader who just got accepted to the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleading squad but doesn't have the money to pay the fair to Dallas. Her close girlfriends decide to help her raise the money and hopefully make enough to join her on the trip to try their luck too! Oversexed and highly pitched Lisa (Mary Catherine Garrison), cute and not-so-naive Roberta (Jama Williamson), dark haired and sexually edgy Donna (Tricia Paoluccio) and last but definitely not least tall, unsexed, and Senate-wanna-be Tammy (Caitlin Miller) are Debbie's bosom buddies. All five of them end up forming the "Teen Services Company", a money making endeavor, which they all plunge into head first! After a lot of hard work, juggling and learning, they do make big bucks as they lose in return simple things like their innocence, their naivite and -oh what the hell- their virginity! The money holders -all male characters- are successfully portrayed by the three very talented, Paul Fitzgerald -master of cheap disguise, Del Pentecost -master of teen seduction, and Jon Patrick Walker -master of the dropped towel (hey, everyone has their talents) They all end up happily putting their hands in their pockets for these girls.
Sets (Christine Jones), lighting (Shelly Sabel) and costumes (Juman Malouf) all work in sync with one another. The shiny blue back wall with the thin red strip on top, the moveable minimalist sets which take you from the locker rooms to the character's minds, the well thought dream-like lighting sequences and the wisely chosen yellow panties and white uniforms create a wonderful frame for director, Schmidt, to elegantly balance between cheesiness and melodrama. Andrew Sherman's music, tuned to the style of the play, has had better moments in the past, still Tom Kitt & Jonathan Callicut's lyrics work well for the story and help outline the characters briskly. The cast members-God bless them- have wonderful voices and they have to sing on top of a CD which, mind you, is a very hard thing in a musical. Jennifer Cody's imaginative choreography couldn't have been more appropriate for this show.The cast moves gracefully with great sense of humor and consistency to the spunkiness of the adaptation.
In all, the show is a fun roller coaster of American cheesiness, old time porn dialogues, and a couple of political statements (I mean that as a compliment). Without being brainy Debbie Does Dallas manages to entertain and raise questions. There is no pretense of providing answers and in that way the show is honest to its nature. I wouldn't miss it... It felt like watching the actual porn with friends and laughing hard to drunken jokes!
*Images courtesy of Carol Rosegg
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