Score and Script: Alex Higgin-Houser, David Kornfeld, Brendan Siegfried and Laura Stratford. At: Underscore Theatre Company at Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave. Tickets: www.underscoretheatre.org; $25. Runs through: Sept. 7
Pr0ne: The Casting Couch Musical Comedy is a show with an identity problem.
At first, this world premiere penned by Alex Higgin-Houser, David Kornfeld, Brendan Siegfried and Laura Stratford is presented very much in the style of a naughty sex gross-out spoof. The peppiness of musical theater conventions are mocked as a sometimes-scantily clad chorus (Miki Byrne, Kimberly Grossman, Nick Kern and Aubrey Stanton) continually appear to add backup commentary. Meanwhile, the porn-obsessed college student Todd Spudnik (Nick Druzbanski) gets to do fake masturbatory scenes for comic relief.
But by the end, Pr0ne becomes all serious as it takes a critical stand on pornography. The leading lady becomes a prime example of someone exploited by the porn industry who was used and tossed away like a disposable tissue to appease the public's insatiable demand for new content.
Pr0ne focuses on Jessica Harrison (Sarah Hoch), a striving legitimate actress who seemingly gets lured into becoming an unwilling online sex performer. The main pornographer, director/performer Eddie Buonocazzo (Sam Button-Harrison), is on trial and prosecuting attorney Catherine Gellar (Casi Maggio) has convinced his former leading lady and fellow pornographer, Victoria St. John (Leah Isabel Tirado), to take the stand against him.
But all hell breaks loose when Jessica's identity is sought and then revealed, causing much trauma to her parents (Colin Reeves and Susan Thomas) and her closeted gay brother, Connor (Andres Enriquez).
Stylistically and structurally, Pr0ne is all over the map. These are flaws that also affected the authors' previous show two years ago called Liberal Arts: The Musical!
One could use the "too many cooks" analogy, but surely one of the four authors (or in the case of Higgin-Houser, who also serves as the show's director) could have insisted on a more consistent writing tone for the musical. This is a pity, because there is plenty of apparent talent on display in the show and onstage, even if their energies are pulled in too many different directions.
In terms of performances, Tirado is alluringly no-nonsense and sultry as Victoria St. John, while Druzbanski makes for a good overweight dumb lug of a sex-obsessed college student. The chorus quartet also gets a great workout to show off their singing and dancing skills.
But where Pr0ne should have spent more focus is on Hoch's Jessica, whose character seems to get lost amid all the sexual jokes. Also, there is no real resolution to Jessica's predicament. When Jessica finally gives testimony in court, her character gets tossed aside as Pr0ne closes with a moralizing coda.
So Pr0ne is a show that want to have its funny sexual cake, but to eat it too with a dollop of sermonizing. Unfortunately, these ingredients clash rather than complement each other.
