Low Wattage Youth - the Musical
I was given some tix to Electric Youth, the new musical based on the music of Debbie (Deborah) Gibson. Felt it would be a memorable evening, no matter how the show was, and boy howdy was it!
The show was..wow...well, it was...what can I say, I loved it, but not probably the way the creator intended. Her music is still good. I saw her in college and was shocked to find she was really talented. Great singer and I particularly remember her sitting and singing at the piano, and you could tell the girl had some chops.
This musical seems to be made in the general mold of Mama Mia, where these songs are used and a story is constructed around them. However, this show is not Mama Mia..the end result is more like a forced marriage between Footloose and Andy Hardy movies from the 40's. "Come on kids, let's save the barn, and the town."
Barn? Town? Place for Kids to Dance? HUH???? What year is this?
There was a villianess - a bizarre cross between Cruella De Ville and Patty Sheehan. There was snakey nephew of the villaness (also our waiter, who came back to see if we tipped him)
There were some homespun heroes.
There was a line.."what are you going to do...grrrroooowww more wheat??" which got a huge uproarious reaction from the creator's table, but everyone else sat looking puzzled.
There was some inconsistent singing.
There was a disturbing scene involving interpretive dance and something akin to a mob about to destroy Frankenstein, while wielding screwdrivers.
There was a faux lesbian sister in plaid and overalls.
There were gratuitous Wizard of Oz side jokes
There was an amazingly complicated wrap up of all complications in the story, taking place in roughly two minutes, that seemed to pull largely from a Price Waterhouse financial analyst's manual.
There was a dance lift that clunked back to earth, complete with extended pantie shot.
It was MAGIC!
My friend Chris and I were having giggle fits throughout the whole thing. During the Pantie Lift, I became convulsed and almost had to leave. Not just anyone can appreciate such genius. His boyfriend Rob was less impressed, but a good sport. We were enthralled!
To top it all off, "to meet popular demand," Deborah HERSELF was in attendance. She was there for the opening night and wasn't supposed to be back. WELL the masses spoke, and here she was again. She would be taking pictures and signing autographs...it would be the perfect ending to our night!
The masses tonight must not have been as impressed as those at the opening, as a good portion of them left at the intermission.
Those of use who stuck around for the Shake Your Love dance number in the second act, apparently learned with numbered shoe prints stuck on the floor, were not disappointed. After a longish wait in the overheated lobby, we were allowed to enter a secondary room. What would lie behind the door? I was convinced it would be red velvet, gilt chairs and plush rugs, with manservants holding large fans.
I was partially right...there was a worn red velvet curtain and the room smelled vaguely of armpit, which could have come from the manservants.
Rob had his cel phone, so Chris and I each got a pic, and autographed programs. Deborah was so nice, and we had a hard act to follow, as a middle-aged woman in front of us gushed breathlessly about how the show was so wonderful, full of hope and uplifting messages, and how she had spent hours and hours dancing around her room to young Debbie's music.
Unable to top that, I just told her I saw her at Astroworld when I had hair.
