Prom of the dead Prom of the dead (May 06, 2005)

Palo Alto Players production melds zombies with 'Grease'

by Jeanie Forte

What a hoot! Mix together the best of "Rocky Horror Picture Show," "Grease," "Bye Bye Birdie," and "Little Shop of Horrors" and you might come up with "Zombie Prom," the latest offering from Palo Alto Players currently playing at Lucie Stern Theatre.

Rising above all of its progenitors, "Zombie Prom" is better crafted and even funnier -- and this production does it ample justice with some standout performances in an excellent ensemble.

"Zombie Prom" turns the nostalgia musical genre on its head, skewering the 1950s of Eisenhower and J. Edgar Hoover, where hypocrisy and provincial morality rule. The setting is "Enrico Fermi High School," named for the father of the atom bomb.

The cast of characters includes eight students, all recognizable stereotypes, plus the intimidating principal, Delilah Strict, and the muck-raking editor of a local scandal magazine, Eddie Flagrante.

The heroine, Toffee (Lexie Lazear), adores school rebel Jonny (Charlie Levy) -- his rebellion signified by spelling his name without the usual "H". When Toffee gives in to pressure from her parents and principal and breaks up with Jonny, he takes a dramatic leap into the nearby Frances Gary Powers Nuclear Plant, and is buried in the ocean in a lead coffin.

After three weeks of mourning, Toffee and the others are surprised when Jonny returns as a "nuclear zombie," who has come back to claim his true love, and, of course, to graduate. Principal Strict (Julia Etzel), however, has rules that deny matriculation to the dead -- or undead, or zombies ... whatever he is.

Flagrante (Dan Adamson) smells a good story, and champions Jonny's cause in print and on TV -- which provides a good excuse for a '50s-style television spot, complete with cigarette commercial.

As Flagrante digs into Jonny's past, secrets begin to surface like skeletons in a tar pit, ultimately bringing the show to a rousing finish in a fantastic fusion of plot twists.

The score, by Dana P. Rowe, is a delightful pastiche of early rock styles, and underscores every scene, more like an operetta than a musical. Many of the numbers are memorable, and they're all a lot of fun. John Dempsey's book and lyrics often elicit laughter or even guffaws, for their clever wit and wonderful zaniness -- there are some outstanding laugh lines that I don't dare reveal here.

The whole enterprise is so tongue-in-cheek, so consistently wacky, that one simply has to give in to it.

Much of the success belongs to the first-rate ensemble. The four leads are all quite good, with strong voices and excellent character acting.

Lazear as Toffee can belt with the best of them, or deliver a ballad that is equal parts send-up and sweetness. Her expressions add comic nuance to an over-the-top character. Levy captures the typical naivete of the boy heart-throb of the genre, even as a zombie, and vocally recalls the glory days of early rock.

Etzel creates a fabulously funny character as Principal Delilah Strict, and steals the show several times with her powerhouse vocals. Her scenes with Adamson, especially the "Expose" tango, are inspired hilarity. Adamson's comedic skills are great for Flagrante, and his voice matches well with Etzel's.

The rest of the cast does impressive double and triple duty, singing and dancing almost non-stop for the whole show. Elana Ron, Laurel Scruggs, Kristy Trujillo, Greg Lucas, Ricky Altamirano, and Erik Scanlon all demonstrate more than capable voices, dance skills, and comic abilities. Their tireless energy and total commitment to the characters adds much to the overall fun.

Ron Gasparinetti's colorful set looks like it stepped off the comic pages, albeit electrified and neon, and is surprisingly flexible and varied. Michael Palumbo's marvelously extreme lighting tops it off effectively, creating a style well-suited to the fast-paced piece.

The pit combo, led by Matthew Mattei, does an amazing job of delivering almost continuous music in a variety of rock/pop styles. Greg Schuh and Christina Lazo have created endless period choreography, for number after number, with no repetition- kudos to both choreographers and performers.

Greg Schuh also directed, bringing all these elements together in very clever, inventive staging.

His enjoyment of the piece is evident in the production, and contagious.

"Grease" now seems hopelessly dated and creaky, compared to this bright new star in the retro-musical genre. Nothing deep here -- just fun and laughter wrapped up in a green zombie glow.

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