Theatre Review: Over-Dose: The Weird and Mainly Unpleasant World of Dose: The Musical "-Do you like me? Yeah? -Would you do something really special for me? What? -Heroin." (from Dose: The Musical) I'd like to begin this review by pointing out that most people, me included, go to the theatre to enjoy themselves. The audience, for the most part, wants to have a good time. The audience that attends new musical theatre in the East Village is an especially tolerant breed. They've seen some pretty bad stuff and so, don't ask for much. I bring this up because for most of the seemingly unending eternity that is the new musical Dose, the audience remains pretty much silent as a heroin addict. Well, a normal heroin addict, not the singing, mincing, monsters on stage in this disaster. See, Dose is about heroin---and fat people...gay stereotypes too. I could go on about how confusing the plot is, but I could better use my time to say, read a book or pick my nose, so here's the briefest synopsis possible: Fat girl Lily (Shanna Sharp- who is buried under the world's most unflattering fat suit. Who knew that there were no genuinely fat girls who could sing left in the world? Thank god for fat suits- without them we'd have to see people who really ARE fat tread the boards!) is obsessed with model-boy Jamie (Kahan James)who is a heroin addict and not much else. He turns all of her friends on to heroin while she remains annoyingly oblivious and actually is the source of funds for Jamie's addiction. There's a minor sub-plot involving the most ridiculous gay character this side of Paul Lynde's grave and another about a performance artist with a Daddy-Catholic-Spank-Me fetish. Wow: An hour and a half of my life wasted on a storyline that thin. It kinda makes me want to do heroin. Alright, let's review this baby: The show starts off promising enough with Lily (aka Fat Girl), entering lonely and dejected, crying over her salad until she pulls out a salami and two prancing faggy chorus boys and starts singing about the joy of food. It's about time we had a musical number making fun of chorus boys and it's well done here. Someone should write a musical about chorus boys and girls- I'd bet it would be a big hit. In any event, this light hearted acidic comedy soon dissolves into the depressing and morose middle section of the musical, which could easily be retitled: D.A.R.E- The Musical. The usual problems that plague bad musicals are all here: One dimensional characters, boring plots, expositional songs, songs which really have nothing to do with the musical, songs that stop the musical dead in its tracks (no pun intended) and then, of course, reprises of all those useless songs throughout the second act. However, Scott Schneider's score is actually quite good. The tunes were catchy, even if the lyrics were generic or nonsensical. I hope to hear him again someday in a better musical. There are moments of enjoyment in the show. One number especially, "Manipulation" comes together in a catchy, proto-Fosse way that manages to tell the audience something without bashing them over the head with it. Also, the last ten minutes of the play are fantastic- and completely out of context with the rest of the show. If book writer/lyricist Tim Aumiller really wanted to make the point he makes at the end of the show, he would not have given us such entirely pasteboard characters. If the show could only be as witty as it is in it's final moments (there's bit about "karma" in the final number that is absolutely hilarious) the creators of Dose might have a show that doesn't leave its audience wishing for the narcoleptic bliss seen onstage for themselves. As it stands now, when the fatty finally gets around to shooting up, I found myself muttering, "Well now, maybe she'll lose some fucking weight." Dose is playing through September 26th at the Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street between 2nd and 3rd). Tickets are $15 and available through www.smartix.com or at the box office. Showtime is 7:30. www.dosethemusical.com

posted by Japhy at 9/23/2003 09:11:00 AM || #