By John Farrell Correspondent to Long Beach Press Telegram
'Men' lightweight, delightfully comic

Freud famously is supposed to have asked "What do women want?"

"The Thing about Men," the light and entertaining, if hardly profound, new musical comedy making its West Coast debut in a Musical Theatre West production at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, asks the same question, but with the gender changed.

That question is pretty much the heart of all drama. In "Men' the desires of two seemingly very different men, and one woman, are the heart of the story. Tom (Stan Chandler) is a youngish middle-aged advertising executive who has been married for 15 years to Lucy (Elizabeth Ward Land). He has been serially unfaithful to her but is shocked when he inadvertently discovers her one-time affair with Sebastian (John Bisom), an artist and Fabio look-alike who lives in a downtown loft.

Tom frantically moves to get Lucy back: he leaves home, changes his name and rents a spare room from Sebastian just to keep an eye on their passionate affair. In the process, he becomes, inadvertently, Sebastian's only close male friend. There is plenty of frantic comedy as Tom manages not to meet Sebastian's lover and struggles to find a way back to his once-happy marriage.

Craig A. Meyer and Jodie Langel, cast simply as a man and a woman, keep the action moving, taking all the small roles, from ditzy psychic to advertising executive, singing along and adding their own sly asides to the audience as the play unfolds.

The action takes place on a cleverly designed set, created by Vincent Roca: a brick wall with a huge video screen in its middle serves to create the settings, with occasional furniture added for comic effect. (It is amazing what fun you can have with an inflatable sofa!)

All this frantic action takes place to a score of pleasant, occasionally witty if hardly ever memorable songs by lyricist Joe DiPietro and composer Jimmy Roberts. DiPietro's book, based on the screenplay for the film "Men' by Doris Dorrie, is clever and often funny, though the concerns of the three central characters are, to be honest, pretty self-centered.

Roberts and DiPietro created "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change," which was a hit when Musical Theatre West presented it two years ago. This show was done off-Broadway two years ago and is making its debut here in this production.

On your way home from "Men' you'll find yourself looking for some depth of meaning in this airy souffle of a musical, and finding none. Even the moral offered at the play's end seems less than believable. These characters are not real people, no matter what they say. But while you watch, you won't have a doubt about this musical's greatness, and you'll be laughing so hard you won't care.

Director Larry Raben, using the clever scenic design and simplicity of the setting and the likability of his cast, keeps things moving at a frantic, laugh-filled pace. Chandler is a master at pratfalls and physical comedy, and he makes a wonderfully believable ape. (Don't ask Ñ you'll find out why.) Bisom is a great-looking hunk, but also fills his character with a certain innocent vulnerability. Land finds, amid the chaos of her life, a little human dignity. Meyer and Langel are brilliant chameleons, changing characters on stage and off, always ready to give the audience a sly wink and nod.

Diane King Vann leads the off-stage combo that gives Roberts' score oomph, and though there are no great songs in this score, DiPietro's lyrics are biting and refreshing and you can hear every word of them.

Costumes, by Todd K. Proto, are simple and help create the actors' characters, and Julie Ferrin has to be given a nod for his sound design.

"Men' is a lightweight romp through a romantic triangle that is improbable but delightfully comic.

-ÊJohn Farrell is a Long Beach freelance writer.

4/22/2005

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