Theater Reviews

May 15, 2000 - Lehrer's "Tomfoolery" at Gothic North Lacks Bite

By Jack Neal

An A-plus to the Gothic North Theater company for its interest in the irreverent songs of '50s gadabout cynic,Tom Lehrer. But only a B-minus for giving the songs and revue adaptation (of Lehrer's words and music) by Cameron Mackintosh and Robin Ray they and it need to be the kick in groin to the establishment Lehrer intended.

"Get in line in that processional,/Step into that small confessional,/There the guy who's got religion'll,/Tell you if your sin's orginial." There was a time, circa 1955, when "The Vatican Rag" caused huge amounts of delight around the campus circuit.

Songwriter Tom Lehrer was a Harvard math professor who could do numbers on anything from sex to the bomb. "If after hearing my songs," Lehrer said in a 1959 interview about his black-humored songs, "just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worthwhile."

What is especially worthwhile, all these years later, is remembering Lehrer's songs and having a new generation hone in on the odyssey of living in a free and imperfect society via the bite of these songs. Lehrer had something offensive to say about most everything. "Be Prepared" joshes the Boy Scouts (one can only relish what a Lehrer update about gays in the Scouts might be like), Southerners take a licking in "I Wanna Go Back to Dixie," and kinky sex gets a ribbing in "The Masochism Tango." Folk singers, the military, sex, Freud and faith all are familiar targets.

Lehrer's best lyrics are feats of compression: "You can raise welts like nobody else" from "Masochism Tango" and "Say You'll love and trust me,/For I know you'll disgust me" from "When You Are Old and Gray" are but two ripe examples. Switching from exuberant marches to minor ballads, Lehrer's melodies have survived the test of time.

What doesn't survive with this Gothic North production as sardonically as it should, is the bite these songs must have in translation from page to listener via with-it, well-grounded performances. Gary Helmers's witty direction has not yet (I saw the show's third performance Sunday 5/14/2000) come together into the galvanic series of statements he has clearly intended. Nor has Elizabeth Weigel's slick choreography jelled into those droll statements of movement that will eventually give zip to each song. Music director Richard Szitar accompanies at the piano. He does a yeoman's job, a triumph of stamina, but is still too insecure to imbue his cast with the confidence deft satire demands.

Sans extraneous props, the sextet of soloists - Diana McNally-McCall, Khristine Stone-Murphy, Sharon Zenz, Tony Pedroza, Scott Van Tuyl and David Zybert - embody the lampoon spirit of "Tomfoolery," but alas, with few exceptions (the clarion singing of Stone-Murphy being one), seem several rehearsals away of the assurance and vocal agility this musical revue, to be really top drawer, must have.

But, given time to settle in, who knows what might transpire? The fetching cabaret atmosphere Gothic North has created, the delicious deserts and libations the company is willing to sell and the willingness of the more-than-willing-to-please cast and crew to sell these remarkable and caustic songs could add up to two weekends of sheer delight.

"Tomfoolery" plays Thursdays at 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through May 28 (2000) at the Gothic North Theater in the Viewcrest Center, 3697A Kings Row, Reno. Call 775-329-PLAY.