TheatreWorks began its 37th season by taking us back to the ’60s, complete with do-wop music, bad hairstyles, cheesy one-liners and, of course, a lovely-looking lady with a “Make Love Not War” sign in tow.
This may all sound like one big cliche, but really, “Vanities” — a new musical by Jack Heifner and David Kirshenbaum, which is having its world premiere at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts — strives to be more than just cotton-candy fluff.
And it almost succeeds. The songs are catchy. The cast is direct from Broadway. What it’s lacking, however, is a compelling plot.
The opening number, “Hey There, Beautiful,” holds much promise. The year is 1963, and we are introduced to three high school cheerleaders — Kathy (Leslie Kritzer), Mary (Megan Hilty) and Joanne (Sarah Stiles). They are best friends, airheads and totally in love with their own reflections.
The second scene is the same three girls, now roommates in a college sorority house. They are still airheads and still in love with themselves, but slightly less sure of their direction in life. They sing more catchy, fun songs with names like, appropriately enough, “Fly into the Future” and “Open up Your Mind.”
However, by the time Scene Three rolls around (there is no intermission), we begin to wonder if this is isn’t a ’60s version of “Saturday Night Live”: Small, quirky vignettes pieced together by song and performed by a kooky cast of bellbottom-clad characters who have annoying nasally voices and a bit with pom-poms.
Up until now, the show’s been entertaining, but shallow. We don’t really know these characters very well; much less do we care whether they marry the hottest guy on campus or end up running away to Europe.
But then, the playwright surprises us in the last third of production by giving us a reason to care. Heifner, who originally wrote “Vanities” as a stage play, decides to give us a glimpse of a plot. Finally, the three girls get a chance to talk, really talk; their lines no longer punctuated by lyrical notes every few sentences. And we, for the first time, get a chance to really listen.
While Kirshenbaum’s (“Summer of ’42”) score is a treat, it tends to dominate the show a bit too much. A little less keyboard and a little more dialogue would no doubt give “Vanities” the balance it’s lacking.
Under the direction of Gordon Greenberg, Kritzer, Hilty and Stiles never slow down for a second. As the production’s sole actors, they are onstage virtually the entire time and manage to keep things amusing even when a scene runs longer than it should. The three women are all extraordinary singers who move from screechy school girls to hardened 20-something-year-olds with incredible ease. They definitely deserve an “A” for effort, pom-poms or no pom-poms.
INFORMATION:
What: TheatreWorks presents “Vanities” by Jack Heifner and David Kirshenbaum
Where: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St.
When: Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. (no performance July 4); Wednesdays through Fridays 8 p.m. Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. (8 p.m. only on June 24, July 15); Sundays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., (2 p.m. only July 2 and 16); closes July 16.
Cost: $20-$62
Call: (650) 903-6000 or visit www.theatreworks.org
