Playwright: Julien Nitzberg ( libretto ) and Roger Neill ( music ) . At: Trap Door Theatre, 1655 W. Cortland. Phone: 773-384-0494; $20-$25 ( 2-for-1 Thursdays ) .Runs through: May 3.
Jesus strips to a loincloth as U.S. President Dodgeson sings, 'Looking like a long-haired queer, my Savior did appear.' The Beastly Bombing is that kind of show, virtually guaranteed to offend Christians, Muslims, Jews, gays, straights, skinheads, Arabs, cops, drug users, priests, terrorists and patriots. Blacks, Latinos and Asians might be included, too, depending on how one casts the show.
Billed as a post- 9/11 comic opera, The Beastly Bombing is written as a parody of a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta and on a purely musical level works rather well. Whether you find it amusing or not depends on the thickness of your own racial-sexual-religious-political skin and your taste for over-the-top, vulgar, outrageous burlesque. It's definitely not satire, which requires both subtlety and intellectual inquiry.
Two skinhead terrorists and two Islamic terrorists foil each other's plot to bomb the Brooklyn Bridge, but find themselves united in mutual hatred of Jews and the supposed Zionist conspiracy. Fleeing capture, they disguise themselves as--what else?--Hassidic Jews ( confused with Sephardic Jews; not the same ) , only to be jailed with a gay priest and the drugged-out and promiscuous twin daughters of--who else?--craven President Dodgeson, who invokes Jesus and orders the nuking of Chad before revealing that ... well, I'll save the surprise for those who see the show.
Julien Nitzberg's book needs much work. It's slapdash, hasty and lazy with vulgarity and shock substituting for wit. His song lyrics are better and more pointed, although frequently just as offensive. For instance, Prez Dodgeson sings 'I don't care if they support Jihad, I love the Royal House of Saud,' a lyric too true to be good. On the other hand, Roger Neill's music is exceptionally tuneful, merry and complex, often approaching the Sullivan standard. What's more, the rich pre-recorded musical accompaniment provides a full orchestra. The Trap Door troupe isn't always up to the demanding music which employs counterpoint, coloratura, head voice and falsetto. Several performers are forced beyond their vocal ranges, notably Stephen Lydic pushed too low as an otherwise deft Dodgeson.
Kevin Remington choreographed The Beastly Bombing in Los Angeles and both directs and choreographs here. He's a better choreographer. Working with a large cast ( 12 playing 30 roles ) on Trap Door's tiny stage, his musical staging is the show's strongest production element, especially with song-and-dance workhorse Matt Gottlieb portraying four different characters ( gay priest and beefcake Jesus among them ) in four different numbers. Alas, in dialogue scenes Remington relies on motion and high energy but has no instinct for comic understatement or irony.
Personally, I can't accept the loathsome Protocols of Zion as a comedy subject. Others may find the show's equal-opportunity-outrageousness and dominant camp/gay aesthetic just their cup of mint tea.