By Les Spindle

Act a Lady

Sacred Fools Theater
660 N. Heliotrope Dr., Hollywood
Friday-Saturday 8 p.m.,
Sunday 7 p.m.
Through April 28
Tickets: $20
(310) 281-8337

The theatrical world has always been fascinated with the notion of men dressing up as women. This dates back as far as ancient Greece, where Plautus used the device for slapstick comic complications. Shakespeare incorporated gender-bending farcical situations in such plays as Twelfth Night. Cinema has likewise latched on to comedic stories about male or female drag, raising thought-provoking gender-role issues in such films as Tootsie and Victor/Victoria.

While Jordan Harrison's Act a Lady gives us colorful characters staging a cross-dressing theatrical production of a Restoration melodrama in the surprising setting of a Midwestern town during Prohibition, it doesn't unveil profoundly fresh insights into the well-worn themes. Part zany farce, part reflective social-issue play, part surrealistic reverie, this eccentric play-within-a-play is an unwieldy concoction that throws a lot of disparate elements against the wall, hoping they will stick. Some do, but not enough to result in a fully satisfying or cohesive piece.

A synopsis of the complex story would be more confusing than useful. Suffice it to say that when Miles (Christopher Goodson), True (Joe Fria) and Casper (Ryan Spahn) don petticoats, wigs, and mascara to perform in a benefit performance, these amateur actors' masculine and feminine sides collide, leading to confusion for them and the women around them: Miles' homophobic, God-fearing wife (Alicia Wollerton), True's makeup-artist girlfriend Lorna (Kimberly Atkinson) and the ball-busting, feminist director (Kathleen Mary Carthy). In the second act, Harrison adds another level of role-switching, best kept a surprise.

Kiff Scholl directs the madcap proceedings with flair, and the performers deserve kudos for their committed, appropriately over-the-top performances—particularly Fria's hilarious segues from yang machismo to yin femininity. Design elements—quite ambitious for the shoestring-budget Sacred Fools company—are impressive. This intermittently entertaining romp is a pleasant enough way to wile away a couple of hours, though Harrison clearly was aiming for something more substantial.

Beautiful Thing

Celebration Theatre
7051B Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood
Thursday-Saturday 8 p.m., Sunday 3 p.m.
Through April 15
Tickets: $20
(323) 957-1884

In 2000, the now-defunct St. Genesius Theatre staged the L.A. premiere of Jonathan Harvey's Beautiful Thing (which had previously spawned a British art-house film). Flash-forward 6 1/2 years, as Celebration's artistic director Michael Matthews stages a new rendition of Harvey's 1996 play. The stirring seriocomedy has lost none of its punch, and Matthews' superbly acted production surpasses the prior local staging.

Though it encompasses such dark issues as domestic abuse, Harvey's lovely play is primarily an easygoing love story, reminiscent of the slice-of-life working class films that dominated British cinema during the 1960s. At the same time, it's more than a “gay” play, as its story also explores the vulnerability and emotional yearnings of its hetero characters. The story is set in a less-than-idyllic East London housing project, where two neighboring boys—the sports-shy, arts-oriented Jamie (Nathan Frizzell) and the more aloof, introspective jock Ste (Michael Tauzin)—slowly admit, then consummate, their mutual attraction. This is scarcely an easy transition for either, as they live amid a social milieu that is intolerant and ignorant about such a bond. Jamie's goofy, high-strung single mother Sandra (Sarah Taylor)—saddled with a screwed-up romantic history and presently shacked up with a hippie pothead (Nate Clark)—is scarcely the model of motherly perfection, and Ste is regularly beaten by his brother and father. The intriguing and hilarious character of Leah (magnificently played by Kelly Schumann), a high-strung teenager from next door who fancies herself as Mama Cass, rounds out the ensemble.

Taylor gives a performance of tremendous sensitivity and depth, balancing the boisterous, dysfunctional behavior of this unusual mom with compassion and love for her son. Though much older than their parts, Frizzell and Tauzin are credible, funny and moving as the angst-ridden adolescents, imbuing this bittersweet love story with nuance-rich characterizations. Clark offers fine support as the well meaning but bungling hanger-on. The design team has fashioned a production that looks sharp and sounds great. Though Matthews would do well to temper some scenes, which occasionally lapse into overzealous depictions of the characters' idiosyncrasies, the end result is immensely satisfying. Next to Play it Cool, this is the finest production presented at the Celebration since Matthews took over the company two years ago.

Lovers & Lullabies ... A Sweet and Sexy Cabaret

Celebration Theatre
7051B Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood
Friday-Saturday 10:30 p.m.
Through April 14
Tickets: $10; $5 with ticket to Beautiful Thing
(323) 957-1884

The gay-focused Celebration Theatre has a tradition of offering late-night entertainment on weekends, providing a fun alternative to the WeHo bar scene. Over the years, the fare has included original musicals, sketch comedy, improv and sundry other attractions. Currently on the boards, following Friday and Saturday performances of the mainstage production Beautiful Thing (see separate review), is an entertaining and unpretentious revue, Lovers & Lullabies: A Sweet and Sexy Cabaret, spotlighting superb performers.

This offering credits no director or conceiver, but the captivating host, Peter Bedard, appears to be a driving force, aided by the efforts of musical director Jake Anthony, who supports the proceedings with scintillating piano accompaniment. Bedard opens the show with campy quips, then introduces two attractive dancers in sexy attire, shirtless Rusty Hamrick and hot-pants-clad Angelique Perrin, whose sultry moves add sizzle to Bedard's red-hot delivery of the Peggy Lee classic, “Fever,” and the parade of songs that follow. The amusing Bob Mundy offers clever patter and croons a stellar rendition of the fine Lerner-Lane ballad “Love With All the Trimmings,” sung by Streisand in the film version of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.

Richard Tanner, who sings a number he wrote with composer Stephen Flaherty, presumably before Flaherty's partnership with lyricist Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, A Man of No Importance), is a charismatic performer. His rich, booming voice sounds terrific in “Soon It's Gonna Rain” from The Fantastiks, and additional numbers. Trisha Mann offers a soulful interpretation of the Gershwins' “Summertime,” and vivacious Cynda Williams is marvelous in a song from her debut film, Mo Better Blues. A very odd choice for the group finale is a jazzy version of Julie Andrews' “Stay Awake” from Mary Poppins. Jazzy or otherwise, this show certainly could use something other than a Disney-film lullaby to cap off its zesty hour of music and frolic.