What genre of theater is meant to be bad? What scripts are designed to cause audiences to boo and hiss? Yes, melodramas! Playwright Summer Golden's opus, Momsy's Bad Boy or, The Saga of the Falsely Reformed Degenerate totally qualifies. Producer Jeff Bushnell's introductory comments implore the audience to boo and hiss the villain and all villainy and cheer and rave at the hero and heroine and all acts of goodness.
Audiences are the key to the success of a melodrama. The audience I reviewed was a large group of organized degenerates on a mystery night out. They easily fell into the mood of the piece.
Momsy's Bad Boy deals with a villain, Victor Villian (Terence John), guided by his evil mother, Momsy (Summer Golden). Victor's goal is to woo and wed the lovely Darla Delicate (Darcy Harman).
As with any melodrama there are simple subplots, ironic twists, vast amounts of stupidity and just plain ridiculous fun. Darla can't make her mind whom she is most fond of, Victor or Officer Manly (Charles Lawrence Close). She is short on brains and wonderful at swooning all over the stage.
The queen of posturing title, though, falls upon the Drama Queen (Peggy Daly). She sweeps across the stage and anywhere else where she can be seen.
At the Home For Reformed Degenerates (HFRD), besides Queen and Delicate, there is busty Triola Tramp played by John Fojtik in drag and Fortuna Teller (Philomena Schubert), a fortune teller who communicates more to the audience in her asides than in her crystal-ball ruminations.
The Villian family is cursed by a daughter, Sister Saintly (Rachel Goldbaum), a do-gooder. Alas, what a curse! Finally, director Mark Anthony, in his infinite wisdom, took on the role of Beauregard Big Bucks. BBB tosses million-dollar bills to the audience, contributes to worthy causes like the HFRD, and is a far more splendidly dressed than anybody else in the cast.
In Momsy's Bad Boy, everybody postures. Officer Manly struts, Ms. Tramp constantly thrust out her ample bosom, Momsy coddles sweet Victor; only Saintly has a sweet degree of normality about her. High theater this ain't. But, with a crazed audience and a pre-show beverage of choice, it can be fun. GB Productions, as always, is
commended for offering new talent a place to learn their craft.
