STAGE REVIEW : A Tasty Mix of Sin, Salvation in ‘Momma Don’t’

It’s difficult to ignore a show where Jesus Christ is billed as executive producer, especially when the credit is not a put-on. And the black touring gospel musical “Momma Don’t” (as in “Momma, find the Lord, and lay off the crack cocaine”) is not a show you can dismiss.

Sophisticates may blink, but a packed house at the opening Sunday at the Wilshire Ebell found the cornucopia of hookers, drugs, pimps, a church choir, murder and resurrection irresistible.

The best way to write about a production like this is as a news report. Who cares if the musical is overbaked, overripe, over-the-top, overlong? This show is connecting. The only white person in the house was a reviewer, and he got impatient with the message about the savior curing addiction, but he had a good time too.

That’s because writer-director-producer Michael Matthews doesn’t take things too seriously. He’s not one to pass up a laugh, and there are plenty in the show, especially in the outrageous costumes of the ladies of the night.

Matthews has been booking this show into big houses back East since last May, and he has enjoyed success with a highly promotable idea: in each city, the show features a romping, stomping local church choir. Here, it’s the Greater Bethany Mass Choir.

Nobody ever underestimated the box-office clout of sin and salvation, and this show’s strategy draws heavily from black church groups. The production’s strong suit is the pit orchestra, under Kenny Jackson’s raucous musical direction, and the vocalizing--featuring, among others, the gospel trio the Clark Sisters. Comedically, the nominal stars are Akosua Busia and Ernest Harden Jr.. Busia, spilling out of her lipstick red fringe dress, is riotous.

When pistols go off, the whiff of the powder wafts over the house. There’s even a coffin with the body of a prostitute stretched out in it. As the reverend says, “She was an upstanding member of the community. She was always standing around a lot.”

At 4401 W. 8th St., Tuesdays through Sundays, 8 p.m., Saturdays and Sunday, 3 p.m., through April 14. $18.50-$25.50. (213) 939-1128.