LOS
ANGELES TIMES
April
30, 2004
THEATER
BEAT
Testosterone
is the reigning chemical in "The Days When Cocaine Was King," a
wannabe guilty pleasure as crudely constructed as it is crude.
It's
purportedly the story of the Larrys, a novelty rock band whose fortysomething
members provide live music at stageside while actors play their younger,
'70s-vintage selves.
Sex
gets more play here than either drugs or rock 'n' roll, in director John J.
Fanelli's rambling, half-cocked sketch comedy script. Indeed, this is less a
backstager about a band's rise and fall than a backseater--a tittering male
fantasy about strapping young frontman Ro Chambeaux (Josh Thorpe).
Ro's
dilemma: to win back hot Juanita (Giselli Tongi) after she catches him in a
hot-tub threesome with his ex, Carla (Rennie Salomon), and a new friend.
Sound
like fun? If only. The proceedings alternate uneasily between the Larrys'
semiscripted goofery and the actors' let's-put- on-a-show portrayals.
There's
some snappy choreography for a lithe young chorus by Tania L. Pearson, and the
band unleashes some smokin' grooves.
Thorpe
is a good sport who looks sleek in Jyothi Doughman's period duds. As his
bassist, Brandon Loeser is an ingratiating frat- boy imp. And Tongi has a
lovely solo late in the show, by which point it's like finding a cherry in a
spittoon.
The
evening's emcee, the "real" Ro Chambeaux, has more costume changes
than Liberace and a Phil Hartman-like ironic shamelessness. But with shtick so
witlessly puerile, the result is more embarrassing than shocking.
-- Rob Kendt
"The Days When Cocaine Was King," Stage Music Productions at the American Renegade Theatre, 11138 Magnolia Ave., North Hollywood. Thursdays and Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Ends May 29. $20. (888) 709-2653. Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes.