Review: TOTALLY ELECTRIC Is Like, So Totally Rad and Bad (but not in the good way)

The 1980s are often remembered as the era of over-produced power-ballads, bright neon colors, ozone offending hair, superficial beauty, and obnoxiously shallow people. For better or for worse, TOTALLY ELECTRIC, Gen Y Productions latest musical, falls victim to many of the least desirable traits of the decade that it sets out to lampoon. Fortunately however, the show, playing at The Abbey in Downtown Orlando through September 28th, is also buoyed by some of the decade's most hummable songs from the likes of R.E.O. Speedwagon, The Go-Go's, and Tiffany, with a little Reba McEntire thrown in for good measure.

The show opens at the unspecified-year reunion of West Lake High School (a framing device that doesn't seem to have either a purpose or a resolution) where we learn that the school's Grammy-Award winning show choir, The Syncopated Sensations, are sadly unable to attend the night's festivities. Suddenly, we rewind to 1989, where, through an oddly long section of disjointed, out of context intros, we meet the Sensations before they became West Lake's favorite alums.

Though the rag-tag show choir of high school misfits seems a bit cliché now, TOTALLY ELECTRIC pre-dates FOX's GLEE by two years, but the similarities between the properties are hard to miss. The choir is made up of social misfits who come together to solve their individual and collective issues through the power of harmony, against the forces of the schools most popular, yet dastardly students.

The cast is made up of obviously talented performers who are never able to fully shine through the pedestrian material. As Jessie Newton-John, Ricky Cona is The Sensations earnest leader who just can't fight his feelings anymore, and Orlando's own Ericka Dunlap, who took home the title of Miss America in 2004, plays the songbird of West Lake High, Tiara Lynn Kelly. While Dunlap obviously has a great voice, some over-singing notwithstanding, her overly-polished character never rises to the level of her voice.

The real sensation of the group is UCF student Katie Fitzsimmons, who plays peppy cheerleader Kippy Kaler. Her infectious spirit and obvious charisma ends up bringing far more smiles than the script's uneven attempts at humor.

While TOTALLY ELECTRIC ends up being a night of frivolous nostalgic fun, the show's plot takes almost the entire first act to get moving. When the second act opens, the script by Jonathan Van Dyke (who also directs and choreographs), finds its footing and, finally, some forward momentum. That is almost entirely because Act II kicks off with a rocking duet between Taffy and Toffee Tepperman (played by Alejandra Martinez and Nicole Visco respectively). Though the song does little to deepen the character of the twins who are as nasty as they are beautiful, for the first time, it provides the show with actionable intentions. Martinez is cool and sexy as the school's queen bee, but Visco steals every scene she is in (and then some) with an incredible comic sensibility as the more dim-witted twin.

This nostalgic style of show works best when the era-specific jokes are woven into the show's natural dialogue, rather than just having a two minute recitation of random, mildly memorable 80's movie lines for no discernable rhyme or reason, as is done here.

Case and point, two of the unquestioned highlights of the show are fully integrated 80s jokes that are funny on their own, but are elevated because they don't feel shoe-horned in for cheap chuckles. Betsy Padamonsky as Fancy (of "Don't Let Me Down" fame) and Valerie Witherspoon as Jean-Michelle Valjean, West Lake's foreign exchange student, a staple of 80's teen movies. While both parts are small, Padamonsky (who also plays Holly Feffen) and Witherspoon display more comic and vocal talent than most shows' leads. Alexander Mrzaek is also enjoyable in the thankless role of cool kid Mike.

The cast is rounded out by Adam Galarza, Meredith McDermott, Shonn McCloud, and Blake Aburn, who all find moments to shine, even if their characters make that difficult to do.

As is to be expected, the music is the high point of TOTALLY ELECTRIC. While some of the solos battled pitch issues, and in group numbers were tough to hear over the otherwise radical band led by Music Director Michael Raabe (who also did the arrangements), there is just something special about this era of music, and it's not just because I was born in the early 80s! And the costumes by Trish Meade and lighting by Roy Brown add as much as anything to the feel of the show.

TOTALLY ELECTRIC is never going to be mistaken for high art, and the under-developed (and completely abandoned) plot lines and flat, stock characters can become tedious before the surprisingly satisfying final third, but there is more than enough rhinestones, 80s anthems, and appropriately awkward choreography (not to mention The Abbey's fully-stocked bar) to distract you into having a good time. To venture back to 1989 with Gen Y's cast of colorful characters, get your tickets by visiting The Abbey's website or by calling 866-468-7630.

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Did you time travel back to 1989 for Gen Y's TOTALLY ELECTRIC? Let me know what you thought of the show in the comments below, or by "Liking" and following BWW Orlando on Facebook and Twitter. You can also chat with me about the show on Twitter @BWWMatt. If you want to follow along with my "366 in 366" articles, you can check out #BWW366in366 on Twitter.

Photo Credit:
1) Cast of TOTALLY ELECTRIC: Gen Y Productions
2) The Syncopated Sensations: Gen Y Productions
3) Nicole Visco, Shonn McCloud, Alejandra Martinez, and Alexander Mrzaek: Gen Y Productions
4) The Syncopated Sensations with Valerie Witherspoon foreground: Gen Y Productions

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