[ssba]
Scream!
Reviewed by Bob Verini
Rockwell Table and Stage
Through Dec. 6
RECOMMENDED:
Rockwell Table and Stage, in Los Feliz, has long been the local locus of the interactive/immersive restaurant/musical. That means you eat and drink while the action is taking place all around you, and a pop diva is as likely to belt her showcase number in your lap, breathing on your onion rings from a platform stage a few feet away. Management is unveiling a new “Unauthorized Musical Parody Series” with a musicalized Scream, and a scream is exactly what it is.
Back in 1996, when Wes Craven’s Scream reignited the horror movie boom, Miramax Books published Kevin Williamson’s original screenplay in book form. I can recall saying to myself, “Who the hell would ever be interested in that?” Well, here’s the answer: Michael Gans & Richard Register have joined forces to transform the picture’s iconic moments into a raucous musical self-parody along the lines of The Rocky Horror Show.
The two portly auteurs are our comperes for the evening, wielding Williamson’s deathless prose like a Bible – literally – as they narrate and comment on the alternately suspenseful and ridiculous events on those fateful nights in Woodsboro, California, starting when sassy co-ed Casey Becker, blithely popping corn for a scary movie-thon, gets a phone call from a insinuating breather: “Do you want to play a game?”
Casey (originally played by a game Drew Barrymore) and b.f. Steve are filleted and gutted by the mysterious “Ghostface,” sweeping in and out of rooms in pure-white Edvard Munch mask and black flowing robes. But their tragedy is just a warmup for the main event, involving high school senior Sidney Prescott. It’s one year to the day since her mother was raped and murdered, and somebody doesn’t want to risk that she’ll forget it.
But who? Boyfriend Billy, who’s tired of carrying on a PG-13 relationship? His best friend Stu, who takes nothing seriously, least of all an ongoing local bloodbath? Stu’s main squeeze Tatum, maybe? How about ambitious TV newshound Gale Weathers, who develops a suspicious attraction for dopey Deputy Dewey? And let’s not forget the most obvious suspect, Sidney’s dad, who just happens to go out of town on the anniversary of his wife’s death, when their daughter might be expected to need some moral support.
Mr. Prescott’s too-convenient, utterly unexplained business trip is pointedly noted by the Rockwell narrators, and indeed, neither they nor the cast members ever let a ludicrous plot twist or ridiculous line of dialogue go unmocked. (Watching the old movie again before seeing this tuner, I was sure that they wouldn’t let “Looks like you fingered the wrong guy – again!” go by, and sure enough . . .)
The original movie was self-consciously premised on teenagers’ familiarity with horror cliches; video store geek Randy became the life of the party by listing the genre “rules”: “Never have sex….Never say ‘I’ll be right back’ . . .” Well, the Rockwell version retains all of that, and adds yet another “meta” level by commenting on the commentary, not least from the trio of “Screamettes” who serve as a knowing, campy chorus.
It’s all very arch and post-modern, and frankly would be insufferable if it weren’t performed with such brio and dash. But the energy bouncing off the Rockwell walls is contagious. Interspersed with the Scream-ery are a score of familiar musical numbers – mostly power ballads of the vintage and contempo variety – and they’re sung loud. Boy, are they sung loud. And boy, are they sung well.
The company roster boasts primo showbiz, even Broadway, names, with performers rotating in on the basis of what are evidently superbusy schedules.
If this is the sort of thing you like, you’ll like it, and you can confidently take potluck with the performers.
And be sure to order the onion rings. They’re made with Cap’n Crunch and they’re amazing.
Rockwell Table & Stage, 1714 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz. Fri.-Sat, 8 p.m. (added perf Thurs., Oct. 30, 8 p.m.); through Dec. 6. (323) 669-1550 ext. 20, https://www.rockwell-la.com.
