Friday, August 22, 2008

Theater review: The Big Bang

By Arnold Wayne Jones of Dallas Voice

Andy Hanson

ADAM & STEVE: Gary Floyd and K. Doug Miller re-enact the history of the universe set to music in The Big Bang.

It’s not often that critics find themselves hoping that theater companies will revive old shows, but that doesn’t stop most of them from doing so regularly. The Dallas Theater Center alone is more than 20 years into A Christmas Carol with no hint of slowing down. But it was with giddy joy that I sat down for 90 hysterical minutes at Theatre Three’s downstairs space to experience The Big Bang again.

The last incarnation of this chamber musical opened in March of last year with the same cast, director and design, so it might seem that this would be the epitome of “old hat” — at least the DTC recasts Scrooge and Tiny Tim most years. Happily, on the second go-round, there are even more laughs to be had, probably due to jokes missed the first time, drowned out by the waves of laughter. It was a can’t-miss show then; it still is.

The premise is that Jed (K. Doug Miller) and Boyd (Gary Floyd) have written a megamusical that would dwarf Andrew Lloyd Webber even in his wet dreams. They just need to drum up the financing (some $83 mil, cinch). So, they pitch it to potential investors (the audience) by playing all the parts themselves — Adam and Eve, Napoleon and Josephine, Minnehaha and Pocahantas. But while their proposed musical itself is a disaster on par with “Springtime for Hitler,” the one Jed and Boyd put on is an hilarious pastiche of songs, all staged with (seemingly) improvised props and costumes.

All the strengths of the original — the exhausting precision of the song “Twentieth Century,” a patter number of pop culture that puts “We Didn’t Start the Fire” to shame, the outrageously fearless use of near-nudity and inappropriate audience interaction — remain intact. The songs are as dandy as ever. But there’s more depth to the performance, too.

Floyd and Miller are in top form — even with the year-long hiatus, they seem to fit comfortably back in the roles. But there’s more to enjoy about them than I recall, such as Floyd’s deft, subtly hilarious use of malapropisms and Miller’s scary-funny transformation into the Teutonic zombie of Eva Braun (equal parts Marlene Dietrich, Lotte Lenya and Nosferatu). Their scene as Columbus and Isabella rivals the best of The Carol Burnett Show.

Director Terry Dobson accompanies the action onstage, playing a character as puzzled by the antics of his friends as the rest of us. Even he (and at times, Floyd and Miller) had to suppress a chuckle now and again.

Now they know how the rest of us feel.

Through Sept 7. Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays–Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. $25–$30. 214-871-3300.

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