BWW Reviews: Jobsite Theater's VAMPIRE LESBIANS OF SODOM

There have been some exceptional local performances of late. In the past few weeks, Travis Brown's revelatory work in Stageworks' Superior Donuts (which closed last week) as well as Nick Lerew, Ann Morrison and the cast of freeFall's current Into the Woods have made me feel quite lucky that I am reviewing shows at this exciting time. Trust me, it's not always like this, but when it is, we have to take notice and tell everyone, shouting it from the proverbial mountaintops if we must, that there is amazing theater going on at our local theatrical venues.

And now I'm on one of those mountaintops again, shouting louder than ever. Because we must add Zachary Hines in Jobsite Theater's VAMPIRE LESBIANS OF SODOM to that laudatory list. His drag turn in the Charles Busch cult classic is like a master class in camp.

No one will ever confuse VAMPIRE LESBIANS OF SODOM with State Fair. It is too much fun (if there is such a thing as too much fun). Although The Rocky Horror Picture Show is more iconic and popular, I prefer the quirkiness of VLOS. (And I certainly prefer it to Jobsite's last foray into camp, the forced Return to the Forbidden Planet.) Look, if you like your theater plain, ordinary and safe, then please move onto the next review (maybe there's an Unsinkable Molly Brown review, or a piece on The Music Man, for you to peruse). But if your tastes lean more toward wacky horror, drag, bad religious epics, phallic-tipped spears, constant movie and musical references, "Nadia's Theme" (yes, "Nadia's Theme"), smart dialogue ("Break my hymen!"), goofy dances, 1920's Hollywood, "I Feel Love," and, naturally, vampires, lesbians and Sodom (and its twin city, Gomorrah), then this is a play you can safely, or not so safely, call home.

When I walked into the Shimberg Theater on Halloween night, I was greeted by an old friend--"Bela Lugosi's Dead," that eerily rocking Eighties alternative hit by Bauhaus. I knew right then that this was going to be quite a creepy, kooky, mysterious and ooky outing. When the show began with an a cappella rendition of the theme from "True Blood" (Jace Everett's "Bad Things"), making it sound like a demonic version of the Ray Conniff Singers, I was in glorious heaven/hell. Mesmerizing with nice harmonies, I didn't want it to end.

VLOS opens thousands of years ago, in Sodom, when a blonde Virgin (Hines) is sacrificed to an entity called the Succubus (a very funny Summer Bohkenkamp). The show features vignettes set in three separate time periods (Ancient Biblical times, Hollywood in the Twenties and Vegas in the 1980's), where we follow the fanged foibles of the Succubus/La Condessa and her Virgin-Vampire/Astarte in their eternal, centuries-in-the-making conflict both as bloodsuckers and as actresses. It's like Anne Rice meets Rupaul's Drag Race; Lot in Sodom mixed with The Fearless Vampire Killers.

It took me a moment to realize that the Virgin was actually played by a man, and I'm usually pretty good at spotting these things (don't even mention Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game). So when I'm fooled early on, it's an impressive feat. This is how astonishing Hines is. 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 is a knockout performance, where the rest of the cast, good as they all are, can't hold a candle. Whenever Hines as Astarte was offstage, I couldn't wait for him to return; when onstage, you find yourself rarely looking at anyone else. Hines is part of the cabaret duo, Coco & Homo, and he has performed in Busch's work before (Die! Mommie! Die!), which no doubt prepared him for this phenomenal interpretation. (I would love to see Hines tackle Frank-N-Furter in Rocky Horror someday; then again, I would love to see him in anything.)

Nearly as good is Jamie Jones as a Jim Carrey-esque rubber faced scene stealer in the parts of Hujar, King and Freddie. He is an audience favorite and a master of facial expressions. His deep, resonate, booming voice joyfully betrays his slinky body as it gyrates, wobbles and flails. His mugging plays out a little too long, but he has such good energy and wackiness (and obviously, wonderfully, no self-consciousness), that we adore him and his off-the-charts vigor. The rest of the ensemble--including Maggie Mularz, Katrina Stevenson and the lively Spencer Meyers--all put in good, solid work, and J. Elijah Cho does well particularly in his first scenes and (as music director) plays a mean accordion.

But the show belongs to Hines.

David Jenkins' direction is spot-on and quite creative, letting Hines and the talented cast have room to shine with their zany antics. The cabaret set and lighting of Brian Smallheer (assisted by Keylin Gess) are appropriate for the Shimberg; Katrina Stevenson's costumes work well, though the Succubus garb could be even more outlandish. I wish the projected images on the side wall of the theater could be clearer or used for a more specific purpose; I was lucky, I sat in the middle and was able to see them (even though they weren't especially effective or necessary). If you sat closer to the front, you would miss them, not that there was much to miss.

As for breaking character...Yes, I like it when Tim Conway breaks up Harvey Korman on "The Carol Burnett Show," or when Rachel Dratch as Debbie Downer has the whole SNL cast in stitches, but it's not needed here; the play is funny enough without anyone's forced breaking of character. I also felt the Las Vegas angle in the final scene seemed badly dated, and some added allusions ("Hey Jealousy!") don't really work. The script also alludes to "Love American Style," mentioning that it came out in 1967. As any Sixties know-it-all knows, it premiered in 1969, but that's a script issue, not a production one. And this production is marvelous fun that should be celebrated by all local theatergoers.

Definitely see VLOS for the unapologetic mindless amusement and for camp done right. But mainly see it to experience one of the best performances of the year. And as previously noted, this season has had its fill of incredible work from all over the Bay Area. Hines as the Virgin/Astarte should be ranked near the top of this very impressive list.

VAMPIRE LESBIANS OF SODOM runs thru November 23rd at the Shimberg Playhouse in the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets, please call (813) 229-7827. As you could probably guess by the title, the show is recommended for mature audiences.

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