Malibu Stage Company opens an overall ambitious, entertaining (a few flaws aside) musical.
By Michael Aushenker / Special to The Malibu Times
Call it “the androgyny and the ecstasy,” Blake Edwards’ ribald comedy-musical “Victor Victoria” has come to town.
In recent history, Malibu Stage Company has opened one solid production after another. With “Victor Victoria,” MSC doubles up on budget and ambitions, and, as the show’s title implies, lets loose with gender-bending situations, as well as the rapid-fire double entendres (song lyricists Leslie Bricusse and Frank Wildhorn add to the musical’s lusty, libidinous lines).
Masterfully directed by MSC Artistic Director Richard Johnson, this production of “Victor Victoria” features Julia Holland as the titular struggling soprano, an English woman named Victoria Grant who goes from rags to riches by pretending to be a man who entertains as a female impersonator. She becomes the toast of the 1930s Paris jazz club scene after an “old queen” named Toddy (Jake Broder) takes her under his wing and shepherds her transformation.
At the club Chez Louis (from which Toddy had been fired), the comedy really heats up after Chicago riff-raff King Marchand (played by Butch Anderson) witnesses the singer Victoria perform and falls hard for her. The fiercely hetero Marchand goes through a phase where he questions his own sexual identity because he has fallen for this “man.”
“Is the girl I’m in love with a guy?” he asks in the song, “King’s Dilemma.” Yet he intuitively feels she is really a woman and sets out to prove it.
All the while, Toddy and Victoria keep the ruse going that she is a Polish count. (In a funny moment, Toddy’s friends doubt his tale of his grand Polish discovery since Toddy’s never even visited Poland.)
MSC has a knack for astute casting, and that tradition continues here. The radiant Holland simultaneously evokes Julie Andrews’ turn in the original 1982 film and makes the role her own. As an actress, she deliciously delivers the lines for deadpan effect. As a singer, she can really hit those high notes, and Holland shines in numbers such as “If I Were a Man” and “Le Jazz Hot.” (She also dances throughout the show.) Together, Holland and Broder provide a solid core as the story’s central characters, and numbers such as “Trust Me” cement their likability.
As the “businessman who does business with gangsters,” Anderson portrays Marchand with the right, light touch, not as a heavy-handed underworld figure but with aplomb and a quiet presence. His understatement serves him well as his character becomes increasingly flummoxed by Victoria.
The supporting cast beautifully rounds out this farce’s ensemble. Anibal Sylyeyra and Don Pitts deliver over-the-top French caricatures as Chez Louis owner Henri Labisse and agent Andre Cassell, respectively. Oscar Best, the towering, charismatic actor who has enjoyed many fine MSC moments in plays past, here milks his role as Marchand’s bodyguard, the comically and unlikely named Squash Bernstein. Richard Van Slyke, George Fisher and Bonnie Frank also delight in various small roles.
On Saturday night, it was actress Kristen Towers-Rowles as Marchand’s French-maligning, gum-chewing gangster moll Norma Cassidy who stole the show, if audience reaction was an indicator. Towers-Rowles provided much comic relief as the brassy blonde bouncing off of Anderson’s indifferent Marchand, who suddenly has eyes for Victoria. For a while, Norma fixates on the Frenchman Toddy, not realizing he is uninterested in women. The actress can sing and dance. Her hilarious set pieces, such as the suggestive, city name-checking “Paris Makes Me Horny” (“Been to Munich, every man’s a eunuch… been to Dublin, not exactly bubblin’”), are show highlights.
“When I see the Eiffel Tower, I want to go and take a shower…,” she sings in the racy “Paris.”
In a latter number, “Chicago, Illinois,” the song starts out with wisecracking Norma and ascends into a full-scale number with dancers. In fact, one of the biggest strengths of this production of “Victor/Victoria” comes from the dance interludes in between the comedy. Throughout the show, the musical casually rifles through more performance styles than an episode of “Dancing With the Stars”-tango, flamenco, tap dancing, etc. The choreography by Albertossy Espinoza is often spectacular, filling the smallish stage with groups of acrobatic male and female dancers.
All of the play’s other departments sparkle. The house band, led by Scott Nagatani, effectively captures that slinky Henry Mancini vibe throughout. The show also displays a clean set design with its apartment settings, and excellent period costuming by Danielle Horn.
Last weekend, there were kinks to be worked out. One of the leads could have perfected some of his line readings while another actor’s microphone produced some unintended static. Preceding “Victor Victoria” was a well-intentioned PowerPoint slideshow tribute to director Edwards that was unfortunately marred by the crushed silver fabric on which the images were projected.
A few malfunctions aside, the densely packed three-hour “Victor Victoria,” upping the scale on recent MSC musicals “The Wild Party” and “Glorious!,” delivers an infectious mix of contagious laughs, and impressive song and dance routines that will keep your inner cross-dresser smiling.
“Victor Victoria” runs through Dec. 4. More information can be obtained online at malibustagecompany.org.