The Hollywoodland Real Estate Group in Los Angeles placed a sign on Hollywood hill; it read "Hollywoodland." It is under that sign where souls are being sold for the moon and the stars.
"Lost in Hollywoodland" is a hilarious musical about Dexter Webster (Casey Denton), an aspiring Hollywood movie director. It is based on the book by Alex Wexler and runs through May 5 at the Alleyway Theatre.
Dex wants to make movies that will touch people, like one about a boy who finds an alien and must keep him safe from the government, while feeding him a diet of peanut butter candies, and at the end they will fly over the moon "on a unicycle."
Unfortunately, Dex can't keep a job, not even as a director's assistant's assistant. In fact he burns the studio down and can only get a job as the light bulb "screwer-inner" for Hollywoodland Real Estate.
As Hollywoodland Real Estate closes and Dex loses his job, again, he feels completely hopeless, and, by the look of the brown bag in his hand, totally drunk.
"I'd give my soul to be back in pictures," Dex says. Enter Malitoff Dy?Ae?blik (Tom Owen) in a devilish outfit and a horrible hold on the English language.
"Let me reproduce myself," Dy?Ae?blik says.
As Dy?Ae?blik offers Dex the moon and the stars he casually mentions that it will cost only his soul. Go figure... a director selling his soul.
Dy?Ae?blik has two little helpers, Abra (Christopher S. Parada) and Kadabra (Jeffery Coyle). Abra is the brains and Kadabra the brawn, and both are there to do Dy?Ae?blik's bidding and are a continued source of shtick throughout the show.
"I loved Abra and Kadabra, they were so funny. Their acting and constant 'oooh'ing really made the show funnier," said Carol Franky, an office manager from Hamburg.
There's a problem with Dex selling his soul in order to direct films; he doesn't get to pick his pictures. All of the films he directed are written by Kadabra, and all of them have strange titles about giant bugs attacking people, like "The Slug Woman from Uranus."
Dex feels lost until he meets Daphne Marienk?_fer (Colleen Marcello) and falls in love.
The black box style stage offered a simple canvas for director Neal Radice to showcase the actors' talents. There is not much scenery to distract the audience, only what is completely necessary for the scene and that Hollywoodland sign in the backdrop (which at the end of the show the "land" drops off Hollywoodland).
The script kept everyone laughing and the choreography fueled the humor. Carlos Jones created an atmosphere where it wasn't strange to see the characters dancing across the stage.
"The script was funny and kitschy," said Cindy Doyle, an artist from Buffalo.
The performances by all were outstanding. Tom Owen was perfectly cast as Dy?Ae?blik. The character called for a lot of concentration and getting every line right because Dy?Ae?blik speaks so poorly.
There are some songs that pushed the line between funny and absurd like in "We were made for each other," when Dex sings, "life without you is like having the flu."
Another song that is a bit much is "Chicken Croquettes," where the entire cast sings about a wonderful culinary treat. The scene is also quite ridiculous, as Carlotta DeLongpre (Kim Pizzia) finds out that she has been replaced by Daphne as the Slug Woman and tries to poison her.
"Lost in Hollywoodland" plays Thursday and Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. and on Saturdays at 4 p.m. or 8 p.m. through May 5 at the Alleyway Theatre. Tickets are $24 for the general public or $12 with student ID.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
