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Nov. 4, 2005
New musical at the Vogue
Play has potential, so it could be worth seeing later in its run.
BAILA LAZARUS
There is no question that the new musical Alley Cats has
a litter box full of potential. And with the wealth of competence
and experience on stage, it shouldn't be too hard to make this into
a first-rate performance. But there is a long way to go and a lot
of cleaning up to do.
Right now, the highlights of the show include the two headliners
– Rex Harrington and Lea DeLaria – as well as a few stellar
singers, such as Cailin Stadnyk. (Listening to DeLaria belt out
"The Biggest Little Teashop in this Town" may just be
the best musical experience this year.) And there are definitely
some hilarious routines and smart double-entendres. But so many
parts of the plot are clichés; there is questionable choreography
(such as when the gay clientele of an alley bar suddenly turn into
cowboys for a song and dance routine); and there are so many
puns about the supposed gay lifestyle ("going down," "getting
hard") that it comes off sounding like a bad sitcom. Are we
really expected to laugh at a reference to Winky's Weiners?
Still, the play might just get itself some legs (er ... paws?) and
if that happens, it would be well worth seeing it here (maybe later
in the run), rather than chasing it across Canada.
Alley Cats features well-known Jewish community actor Matthew
Rossoff, as well as the artwork of Rae Maté. It runs at the
Vogue Theatre until Nov. 12, Tuesday-Sunday, 8 p.m., Saturday and
Sunday, 2 p.m. Call 604-280-4444 or visit www.ticketmaster.ca
for tickets. Visit www.alleycats.ca for more information.
As an added bonus to the run, the Greater Vancouver Professional
Theatre Alliance will present An Intimate Evening in Conversation
with Rex Harrington, hosted by Glynis Leyshon. The event takes place
Monday, Nov. 7, 8 p.m., at the New Revue Stage on Granville Island.
Tickets are $11 at Festival Box Office, 604-257-0366.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and
illustrator living in Vancouver. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.
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