photo: courtesy of the Bailiwick Repertory Theatre
When a show makes a name for itself with full-frontal male nudity, you can usually assume that patrons aren't coming in droves for its artistic merit.
The follow-up to the Bailiwick's lauded "Naked Boys Singing," "Barenaked Lads Take Off Broadway" has the benefit of a sizeable creative team, with seven credited composers and lyricists and two sketch writers. But the resulting rough, uneven and not particularly funny production hardly stands up to its predecessor. Lyrical spoofs on Broadway melodies entertain, like the "Little Shop of Horrors" "Somewhere That's Green" renamed "Someplace Obscene" and "Overexposed Starlet Tango," a reworking of Chicago's "Cell Block Tango." But among the original songs, only "Table No. 3," a lament by a young, gay waiter/actor trying to satisfy his many demanding customers and quell his libido, leaves a memorable impression.
As for the cast, when you find yourself wondering how the understudies would have done, you know you a show's in trouble. Except for his drag turn in "Living Legend," John Cardone, who doubles as director, seems out of place among the ensemble. Brook Robertson, Keith Stoneking and Scott Thomas all succeed to varying degrees with the amateurish material. Given a better script and score, they might actually sparkle.
The most glaring problem, however, is the inclusion of a token female cast member in a show that, housed in Chicago's Boystown, is clearly aimed at a gay male audience. Despite her talents as an actress, Brigitte Lehmkuhl's inclusion as the only clothed member in an all-nude male revue seemed inappropriate, and her bride-to-be songs were simply annoying interruptions in a gay musical. The only possible explanation I can conjure is that the Bailiwick wanted to market the show to bachelorette parties. Regardless, the show becomes up a confusing hodgepodge of uninspired ditties and long, unenlightening monologues that lack have a clear audience in mind.
"Barenaked Lads Take Off Broadway" runs through December 31 at the Bailiwick Arts Center. Friday 8 p.m.; 9 p.m. Saturday; 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets cost $20-$25.
