THEATER REVIEW : GASLAMP’S ‘WON’T DANCE’ TRIPS ON TOO MANY IDEAS

“I Won’t Dance” at the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre offers three plays in one: a murder mystery, a serious drama about responsibility for oneself and others, and a colorful colloquy of one-liners.

The production has an intriguing story line with some strong performances, a lovingly detailed set and a steady patter of good jokes, mostly at L.A.’s expense. Ultimately, though, the show suffers by being played for laughs when it needs to be serious, then by expecting to be taken seriously when we are waiting for a laugh.

The playwright, Oliver Hailey, based “I Won’t Dance” partly on characters from his own life--his wife, Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, well known for her best-selling book, “A Woman of Independent Means”; his brother, a paraplegic who had polio as a child, and himself, a Hollywood writer for such productions as “McMillan and Wife” and “Continental Divide.”

The play centers on a paraplegic named Dom who, as the action starts, has lost his brother and caretaker, Buddy, a successful Hollywood lawyer, and his sister-in-law, Paula, a successful novelist, in a mysterious pair of murders the night before.

The two questions then become, “Who killed Buddy and Paula?” and “Who will take care of Dom?”

The suspects/candidates, in addition to Dom, are Lil, Paula’s sister--a tall, blonde blueblood--and Kay, Dom’s perky and unscrupulous lover/tart.

Part of the problem with the play is that neither of the questions is ever answered. The deaths are reduced quite callously to a mere plot device, to be swept under the rug when inconvenient. Dom, who is at first desperate to find someone to take care of him, does not make a clear enough transition to someone who can take care of himself.

Without any clear resolutions, the show doesn’t so much end as peter out.

The weight of the show falls on D.B. Novak as Dom, and he handles the part skillfully, capturing with intelligence and poignancy a paraplegic who chafes at his limited life and walks--and even dances--in his head (or when no one but the audience is looking).

Susanna Thompson is an elegantly lovely Lil. But she falls into the trap of making her bored rich girl boring. It is hard to detect in her the passion that drives her character to make love with a Pueblo Indian under the New Mexican desert sun.

This leaves it to Linda Libby to steal the show as Kay, the woman who has never met a man she didn’t think was “cute.”

With her big eyes, pointed nose and red, pouty lips, Libby has a sure sense of the comic line delivered with a straight face, whether it means telling Dom he’s had it easy because he’s “never even had to take gym,” or bemoaning how she’s been fired from every job she’s ever had, except, of course, hooking. “Making a living isn’t easy for a person with no talent,” she says with a sigh.

Libby certainly doesn’t have to worry about that.

There is much that is likable in Jean Hauser’s direction, but ultimately the question arises as to whether the problems with the play were in the script or in the choice of milking potentially pivotal scenes for slapstick.

If Dom’s dream/dance with Lil were more serious, maybe it would be easier to believe he loves her. If Kay weren’t so comical when she finally tells Dom off, maybe we could believe that her arguments might change his attitude.

Robert Earl’s set is wonderfully homey. Not only are all the visible details just right--the baseball and kiddie memorabilia arranged by Buddy, who didn’t want to acknowledge his brother’s affliction or adulthood--but also the ones too small to see: a frame of assorted photographs of Dom’s family, each carefully chosen, and, on the comfortably cluttered bookshelves, even a copy of “A Woman of Independent Means” (which at one point is referred to as Paula’s book and thrown across the room).

The lighting by Matthew Cubitto shows a smooth dexterity with a variety of swift transitions and, like John Hauser’s sound work, complements the action at every turn.

Dianne Holly’s costumes are a quiet pleasure of good taste. Of course, only Libby’s character allows her to cut loose with color, and there she does, dressing Kay in an assortment of flashy, eye-catching clothes, including, under one red outfit, a red teddy that shimmers with exuberance.

The problems in “I Won’t Dance” stem less from a lack of ideas than from an overabundance of them. There are too many cars on this L.A. freeway, and until some of them get off the road, dancing isn’t the only thing this play isn’t going to do.

“I WON’T DANCE”

By Oliver Hailey. Director, Jean Hauser. Scenic designer, Robert Earl. Costume designer, Dianne Holly. Lighting designer, Matthew Cubitto. Sound designer, John Hauser. Stage manager, Virginia M. Deeds. With D.B. Novak, Susanna Thompson and Linda Libby. At 8 p.m. Wednesday--Saturday; Sunday matinees at 2. Closes April 18. At the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre, 547 4th Ave., San Diego.