NYMF: Bernice Bobs Her Mullet: A Hoot and a Holler

An adaptation of a class comedy to modern times is one of the hardest things to pull off in America these days, since Americans like to think we're all the same.  Most current adaptations of this sort (e.g. Clueless) concern themselves with high school characters, where it's still considered rational behavior to discriminate based on dorkiness.  Bernice Bobs Her Mullet, Joe Major's adaptation of F. Scott Fitgerald's classic short story Bernice Bobs her Hair, not only has petty teenagers in the source material, but goes one better by taking a page from Jerry Springer and transplanting Bernice from the jazz age to a modern white trash family to make the class distinction more explicit, and up the comedic value of the fish-out-of-water story.

In this he succeeds admirably.  Bernice is an adorable piece, with a fantastic cast helping to round things out in this NYMF production.

The plot is simple, and relatively unchanged from the Fitzgerald aside from setting; tomboy country girl Bernice (Garrett Long) leaves her Momma (Ann Morrison) goes to visit her rich relatives the Harveys, doesn't fit in at a cotillion, is given lessons in deportment and flirting from her beautiful and calculating cousin Marjorie (Hollie Howard), stuns the gang at the next cotillion with her forthright country ways and suggestions that she might cut off her mullet, and captures the heart of Marjorie's beau Warren (Brandon Wardell), by standing up to the oppressive Christian boor Draycott (Jeff Hiller).  Marjorie wreaks vengeance by peer-pressuring Bernice into really cutting off her mullet, which makes Warren lose respect for her.  Having gambled and lost, Bernice returns home after cutting her sleeping cousin's hair.  The Fitzgerald ends on that note of triumphant pettiness, but here Major adds a musical comedy happy ending in which Bernice returns home to the bosom of her Momma and learns from her adventures amongst the upper crust, adding a "be true to yourself" moral that is not out of place.

The play is highly enjoyable, though the rollicking comedy of the adaptation sometimes sacrifices empathy for the characters.  Fortunately the comedy is very funny indeed, so much so that a terrible pun in the latter half of the play was actually greeted with laughs (though a Wizard of Oz reference was just tired).

The music is accomplished no matter the style, whether country waltz ("Momma's Lament"), cotillion foxtrot ("What an Awkward Moment", which has some absolutely gorgeous harmonies), pop ballad (most of Bernice's solos) or gospel (the show-stopping "The Gospel According to Draycott").  The love duet "You of All People" is adorable and is one of the more beautiful tunes in the piece.  "Hate Yourself", Marjorie's makeover song, manages to be a red-headed cousin to Wicked's "Popular" (filling precisely the same plot point) without seeming derivative.

And the cast- the brilliant cast.  Ann Morrison does double duty as Momma and Mrs. Harvey, shining in both roles as two disparate housewives (but especially funny as the Nyquil-swigging Mrs. Harvey).  Garrett Long is a wonderful Disney-style waif.  Brandon Wardell as Warren is all a callow  Prince Charming should be.  Hollie Howard's Marjorie is a deliciously manipulative beautiful bitch; she's hilarious in her over-the-top reactions.  Marjorie's backstabbing best friends Roberta and Genevieve are played to wicked-sister perfection by Lauren Worsham and Katrina Rose Dideriksen (their malicious duet "You Pull it off Nicely" is a highlight).  The always-delightful Nick Cearley, as Otis, delivers his one-liners with pinpoint precision- nary a one misses its mark.  And then there's the genius Jeff Hiller who is screamingly funny as the dour Draycott, as well as the more flamboyant Edwardo (the stylist that does the titular deed).  

Bernice Bobs Her Mullet is a well-crafted, highly entertaining musical.  Hope it does well.

Remaining performances:  Thursday, Sep 27 at 4:30 pm; Sunday, Sep 30th at 1:00 pm