Review: Stageworks Theatre Presents Charles Busch's PSYCHO BEACH PARTY

In the performing arts, there are certain artistic high crimes: Censorship; works that propagandize racism and intolerance without irony or perspective; and someone answering his cell phone loudly during a performance. There are also several artistic misdemeanors: Paraphrasing lines in Shakespeare plays; lack of projection among actors; and anachronisms ("God is in the details," says Stephen Sondheim). I'm going to add another theatrical misdemeanor: The underuse of an incredibly talented local actor.

Which leads me to Zachary Hines, whose underuse in recent years could be seen as an artistic misdemeanor. Two years ago, I saw Mr. Hines in Jobsite Theater's production of Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, and he was a revelation. I wrote of that performance, "Imagine a Harlow-haired vampire vixen, part Thelma Todd, part Theda Bara, part Carol Burnett as Gloria Swanson. Each glaring Dunaway-as-Crawford look, each over-exaggerated gesture, each pregnant pause. This is what camp should be. Precise, exquisitely timed, over-the-top yet somehow nuanced." It was one of the strongest performances of 2014, a Master Class in Camp. I couldn't wait for his next performance in a show, wherever and whenever that would be. And I found myself waiting...and waiting...and waiting...

Until now. Yes, it's been a long two years, but the waiting is over. Hines is finally back onstage.

In Stageworks' production of Charles Busch's campy fun PSYCHO BEACH PARTY, a rollicking, sexualized takeoff of the old Frankie and Annette Beach Party movies, Zachary Hines plays Chicklet, a virginal, wannabe 16-year-old Surfer Girl. At the start, Hines comes across more as a desperately perky Sandra Dee than mousy-cute Annette Funicello, but he's hilarious and goofily energetic. But as the title of the show indicates, this is not Beach Blanket Bingo (hence PSYCHO BEACH PARTY'S original title, Gidget Goes Psychotic). The "innocent" Chicklet is cray-cray, to put it mildly, with a multiple personality disorder. And Hines' teeny-bopper Jekyll-Hyde finger-snap-quick transformations are a thing of wild beauty to watch. His Chicklet becomes dominatrix Ann Bowman as well as a black check out girl and a radio talk show host, to name just a few. Watching Hines and his wild eyes go through the various incarnations, I wrote three names in my notebook: "Norma Desmond. Mink Stole. Susan Atkins of the Manson Family." That's quite a threesome.

It's a tour de force performance and the perfect vehicle for the talented Mr. Hines (this is his third foray into Busch Land).

But Hines isn't the only reason to see PSYCHO BEACH PARTY. Playing Chicklet's mother is the inimitable Matthew McGee, who only appeared intermittently on our local stages last year (as a mouth-bleeding, zombified butler in freeFall's The Importance of Being Earnest with Zombies and as Queen Victoria in a Pirates of Penzance cameo). He mostly spent last season at the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, so it's good to have him back where he belongs. And Matthew McGee in drag is always a cause for celebration. He resembles a weird synthesis of Susan Hayward as Helen Lawson in Valley of the Dolls, Joan Crawford in her Straight-Jacket years, and John Wayne Gacy as Pogo the Clown. It's a hilarious turn.

There is a third drag performer here, the delightful Ricky Cona as the celebrity, Bettina Barnes. Cona would be easiest to pass for a woman if he walked down the street in his PSYCHO BEACH PARTY garb, and when he opens his mouth, that wonderful cartoon character voice squeaks out. Throughout the show, Cona resembles a young Chita Rivera in Rizzo attire (which begs the question...Will Stageworks mount Grease or West Side Story in the future, with the roles of Rizzo and Anita played by Cona?)

So for you drag fans out there, Hines, McGee and Cona are finally in the same show together. That's a mighty lot of drag power. In some ways, they can be seen as the Holy Trinity of Camp. Instead of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, in this production of PSYCHO BEACH PARTY, we have the Mother, Daughter and the Wholly Spirited Bitch.

There are other noteworthy performances. Katrina Stevenson brings out her best Amber Von Tussle bitchiness to the role of Marvel Ann. And the unrecognizable Summer Bohnenkamp is both funny and sweet as the lisping Berdine, who quotes Schopenhauer, Kant and Nietzsche at the drop of a baseball cap. Franco Colon and Landon Green earned much laughter as the not-so-ambiguously gay duo, Yo-Yo and Provoloney (their Act 2 opening sequence, an imaginary dive in an imaginary underwater movie where much frolicking is occurring, is one of the show's funniest moments). As the beefy beach hunk surf instructor, Kanaka, William E. Masuck is solid (as I watched him being dominated by Chicklet's Ann Bowman persona, I thought that this is certainly a long distance from his Thomas Jefferson in last summer's 1776 at Eight O'Clock Theatre). Ryan Bernier underplays just right as Star Cat, the beach bum/psych major apple of Chicklet's and Marvel Ann's eyes. And Erin Dickerson and Sebastian Hagelstein round out the cast and get the job done.

Director Karla Hartley has led her cast and crew in a buoyantly bizarre camp classic. The show is fast and fun, but it's a trifle, and it evaporates as soon as you leave the theatre. But that's all right, because leaving the theatre we find ourselves facing our own Psycho Presidential Election. So we need this escape.

Frank Chavez's colorful set is like a gaudy Florida postcard, and Brian D. Frey's lighting makes the whole thing look like a Joe Dante film of a Roy Lichtenstein painting. Chavez's costumes are inspired, and special mention must be paid to Scott Daniel's wondrous wigs. The whole thing feels like a B-52's song come to life.

Hartley's music selections are inspired. The pre-show tunes, featuring surfing classics like "Catch a Wave," "Beach Blanket Bingo" and Frankie Avalon's "Why?" immediately transport us back in time 50+ years and properly set us in the Beach Party mood. The guitar-blasts of early 60's surf music work well during the brief scene changes. And if you want to start a beach party off right, then there's nothing better than "Wipe Out" by the Surfaris (with the entire cast onstage dancing to its driving beat). I also appreciate the use of strange Angelo Badalamenti "Twin Peaks" music as well as the theme to "Love Story."

There are several laugh-out-loud moments in PSYCHO BEACH PARTY, and some that will prove shocking to more prudish audience members. But the show has something for everyone, except children. It's R-rated stuff, so you might want to leave the young ones at home.

In the end, if anything is a takeaway from this fun-fun-fun throwaway of a show, it's Hines. He's extraordinary. And his return to our stages has been worth the wait. I just hope it's not another two years before we in the Bay Area get to see his talents in full display again.

PSYCHO BEACH PARTY ends its run two days before Halloween--October 29th. For tickets, please call (813) 374-2416.

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