THE STAR-SPANGLED GIRL, Hale Centre Theatre Black Box, 3333 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City; 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays through April 27, tickets are $11 and $13.50; running time, 2 hours (one intermission).
WEST VALLEY CITY — The San Francisco apartment of underground magazine publishers Andy Hobart and Norman Cornell's looks a little like the apartment in another Neil Simon classic — "The Odd Couple," before fastidious Felix tidied things up.
Set in 1966 in the midst of the Haight-Ashbury scene, the apartment/office is cluttered with period props — a tie-dyed cloth on the coffee table, psychedelic posters on the wall (along with a large photo of Marilyn Monroe's famous skirt-blowing scene from "The Seven-Year Itch"), and . . . through the window . . . .one of the Gold Gate Bridge's lofty towers.
The humor — two liberal anti-everything protesters versus the conservative, flag-waving, Mom's-apple-pie competition-swimmer next door — may be a little out of date, but the comedy's bottom-line patriotism will certainly strike a chord with today's audiences.
Local improv comic Eric Jensen proves to be a triple-threat in this show. He directed it, he's listed as set designer and he plays Andy, Fallout Magazine's publisher, who spends much of his time fending off bill collectors. Jensen's expertise at different dialects pays off here, when he's masquerading as a variety of made-up souls every time the telephone rings.
Justin Bruse is also perfectly cast as Norman Cornell, Hobart's roommate and the magazine's one and only writer/reporter. While Hobart is busy (and reluctantly) escorting their landlady around town, Cornell can't be bothered with girls . . . until Sophie Raushchmeyer, a former Olympic swimmer from the Deep South moves in next door.
Sophie — nicely played by Randi Harrington-Bruse — kicks the action into high gear.
After nearly 40 years, the jokes have lost their topical "zing," but the cast has just the right chemistry and energy to make it work.
You might even pick up some interesting pointers along the way — like when you don't have starch, stick your shirts in the freezer for a while.
The finale is a little disappointing, though. It seems like Neil Simon painted himself into a corner and opted for a quick-fix ending.
E-MAIL: ivan@desnews.com