NEW YORK — Don't let the title fool you — "Cafe a Go Go" is a definite no-no.
This misguided new show — beginning an off-Broadway run at the Manhattan club of the same name — bills itself as a " '60s musical," but don't go expecting hippies or social unrest.
What you get instead is a dreary sex farce, complete with a plot that makes the "Porky's" movies seem chaste.
There's plenty of toilet humor, too. One second-act showstopper takes place in a bathroom, as two characters drunkenly vomit.
Not scared off yet? Wait until the finale, which recycles a sex joke that must date back to the First Frat House Party, B.C.
The creators, a British team called The Heather Brothers, seem to have set the show in the 1960s merely to exploit the era's well-known tunes. Although the score is billed as "original," you'll hear the bass line from the Beatles' version of "Twist and Shout," the guitar riff from the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" and the chorus from the Coasters' "Yakety Yak," among other blatant swindles.
Otherwise, the only time-specific elements are the hairstyles and costumes (bright muumuus and big collars). There's nary a mention of Vietnam, flower children, Ed Sullivan or any of the era's other cultural touchstones.
The story — which follows a group of teenagers who hang out at a swingin' nightclub — gives you no one to root for or even to like. The guys are mostly cads, the girls either ice queens or gullible sad sacks.
It's the kind of show that makes you feel sorry for its cast, a group of game young performers who are miles better than the material. My heart went out especially to Jasika Nicole Pruitt, a recent transplant from North Carolina whose soulful voice and appealing personality are wasted.
The Heather Brothers apparently enjoyed great success with the show in London. It started in a small theater there before transferring to the West End.
But something got lost in the transition. You won't want to spend even a sliver of your Saturday night on "Cafe a Go Go."