Review: Music, Mayhem and Man Eating Sharks in TWISTER BEACH at Café Nordo

Break out your flip flops and Hawaiian shirts because it's time to head on down to the beach, "Twister Beach", the latest in culinary craziness from Mark Siano and Opal Peachey at Café Nordo. This modern day twist on the old Beach Blanket Bingo movies of the 50's and 60's offers up something for everyone with that Siano/Peachey brand of insanity liberally sprinkled on stop making for a super fun evening.

In this crazy tale gay couple Tyler and Sam (Andrew Murray and Devin Bannon) are off to Twister Beach for an anniversary vacation. But Sam has more on his mind than the two of them winning the talent contest. He wants to spice things up in their relationship by inviting a third person into their bed. And not just any person, a woman (gasp!). Meanwhile Marsha and Sandy (Varsha Raghavan and Katya Davida Landau) are looking to enter their own act into the contest and Sandy might be just what the boys are looking for as she's looking to break her dry spell with men. Meanwhile Marsha just wants to find a bad boy and is thrilled when she happens upon emo rocker Jonny Greenwood (Andre Nelson). So things are shaping up for the talent contest and for events director Annette and her laid back assistant Frankie (Opal Peachey and Mark Siano) but the approaching storm and a man eating shark may have other plans for these kids.

If this all sounds goofy, well it is. It's a silly ride filled with music, booze and delicious food. And if all that weren't enough the musical numbers are intermixed with the beach staff putting on acts of their own. Waitresses Bubblegum and Carmen (Sydney Tucker and Gabriela Scherrer) with a sexy hula hoop routine and sultry flamenco dance respectively and bartender Gidget (Tanya Brno) with a thrilling aerial act. And it's things like that which make me love these Nordo shows, their variety. The first Nordo show was more cabaret and lounge singing while the second one was more dance and story based while this one throws in everything but the kitchen sink. Unlike some dinner shows who have a bit of a formula as to what you'll see, Siano and Peachey keep mixing it up to ensure if you've seen one, you haven't seen them all.

Murray and Bannon are adorable as the gay couple searching for more and their talent contest routine is to die for. Raghavan and Landau too offer up some engaging hilarity and fun. Nelson is hysterical as the angst ridden spoiled rocker and I longed for more of him. Tucker, Scherrer and Brno kill with their respective acts especially the high flying Brno. And of course Peachey and Siano were super fun as the beach mainstays by they truly managed to shine as a couple of malevolent marine creatures.

Peachey and Siano have done it once again. They've managed to take dinner theater to a cool level and I can't wait to see what they come up with next. And so with my three letter rating system I give "Twister Beach" a groovy YAY. Head on down for this one, just try to avoid the sharks.

"Twister Beach" from Marxiano Productions performs at Café Nordo through July 30th. For tickets or information visit them online at www.cafenordo.com.

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