STAGE REVIEW : A Suburban ‘Kismet’ at Pasadena Civic

Thoughts while watching the California Music Theatre’s revival of “Kismet” at Pasadena Civic Auditorium:

1--Juliet Prowse still looks damned good.

2--It would be difficult to write a review of “Kismet” without using the words burnoose and minaret .

3--When this show opened on Broadway in 1953, the critics didn’t like it, but there was a newspaper strike on at the time, so nobody could tell. The same thing happened when the show went to London. And you say there is no Allah?

4--Riddle: What’s the plural of burnoose ? Bernice . (Try this on friends at intermission.)

5--Bare midriffs in “Kismet” ought to be awarded only to those whose midriffs are still in factory condition. Prowse qualifies. Some of her colleagues do not.

6--Speaking of that, there were some great bodies in the black version of “Kismet,” “Timbuktoo.” An almost all-white “Kismet” looks awfully suburban these days.

7--It’s not enough that Hajj, the poet, be breezy and be able to hit the bottom notes in “Fate.” Hajj ought to move nimbly--to be a fellow who can literally get out of tight corners. Steven Kimbrough moves like a singer.

8--Next to “Sweeney Todd,” is there any American musical that has more talk of chopping up people? Byron Webster does what he can with “Was I Wazir?” in the second act, but dismemberment is a tough sell in a comedy song.

9--As usual at Pasadena, there has been only enough time and money to get the show on its feet, with no time to think out the details. Note how the lovely violet dawn over Baghdad gets muddied as the sun comes up. “Kismet’s” original producer, Edwin Lester, to whom the show is dedicated, was finicky about such matters.

10--It’s a mistake in a romantic musical to crank up the microphones all the way. (It’s regrettable that they have to be used at all.) There are many good voices in this show (Cassandra Byram and Keith Rice as the young lovers, for instance), but the plumbing turns them to iron.

11--The California Music Theatre’s next venture, a restoration of Gershwin’s “Strike Up the Band,” sounds interesting.

12--Somebody should write a show for Juliet Prowse.

13--How’s your old Wazir? (Try on friends after the show.)

Plays Tuesdays-Sundays at 8 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Closes June 26. Tickets $15-$30. 300 E. Green St., Pasadena; (213) 410-102.

‘KISMET’

The musical, presented by the California Music Theatre at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Music and lyrics Robert Wright and George Forrest, after themes of Borodin. Book Charles Lederer and Luther Davis. With Juliet Prowse, Mark David Miller, Phillip Chaffin, Gary Reynolds, Dion Ramos, Leon Natker, Carl Packard, Jeff Austin, Bill Odien, Ed Kerrigan, David Chavez, Jeff Austin, Kay E. Kuter, Steven Kimbrough, Cassandra Byram, Christian Nova, LaRue Palmer, Michael Prichard, Byron Webster, Virginia Lee Latimer, Aulani, Jeri DeMars, Kelli Fish, Diana Kavilis, Jennifer Rea, Carol Winston, Suzanne Guzman, Marie Cody, Grace Sagara, Carol Tammen, Elaine Houssels, Laura Lees, Lena Marie, Garen Michaels, Ann Winkowski, Leah Aldridge, Sekiya Billman. Staged and choreographed by Bonnie Evans. Scenery David Gibson. Costumes John Brandt. Lighting Ward Carlisle. Music director Steven Smith. Producer emeritus Edwin Lester.