REVIEW : ‘Chuck’s Cherubs’ Recycle Laughs

If you’re in your 20s or early 30s, chances are you spent your formative years tuned in to a world created by Aaron Spelling: a world where beautiful women with perfect 1970s hair and halter tops caught the bad guys without ever breaking a nail. This was the world of “Charlie’s Angels.”

Well, “Charlie’s Angels” are back, in the form of “Chuck’s Cherubs--Undercover in Real Estate,” playing through Sept. 26 at Long Beach’s Found Theatre.

The Found, a 35-seat storefront established in 1974, is known for experimental, offbeat productions with catchy titles such as “Rats! The Musical,” “Beyond the Valley of the Flight Attendants” and “When in Doubt, Put on More Make-Up.”

In “Chuck’s Cherubs,” Virginia DeMoss, Karen Teliha and Cynthia Galles star respectively as Farrah, Kate and Jaclyn, the angelic, all-girl investigation team. Galles, who established the Found, also wrote and directed the production.

Before the play begins, the mood is set by a soundtrack of schlocky 1970s TV-show theme songs. After being bombarded by the likes of “Love Boat,” “Good Times” and “Laverne & Shirley,” the theme from “Charlie’s Angels” fills the room while a slide projector flashes the opening montage. What follows is 90 minutes of cliched, campy, hair-tossing fun.

In the opening scene, the plucky yet sexy heroines are reunited after a 10-year separation. Kate (the brainy one) is now a crack bush pilot; Jaclyn (the sultry one) is a successful romance novelist; Farrah (the well-tressed, vacuous one) is the most popular cop on the Santa Monica beat. Chuck has called them together for one last assignment--a case that only the Cherubs can solve.

Chuck, who is partially seen and heard through the projection screen and a tape recorder, has also been busy during the past 10 years. Apparently he has been pursuing his dream to turn South Carolina into the new wine country. That is, until a mysterious buyer stepped in and started purchasing the land where Chuck’s vineyard was to be located. The Cherubs’ mission: Infiltrate the real estate agency by day to find out about this buyer, and pose as a lounge-singing act at night to keep an eye on the local underworld. They choose to accept the assignment.

The actresses who play the Cherubs are the only people who appear on stage during the production--they even change the sets themselves. Since the plot, in true Angels fashion, features car crashes, plane trips and other situations impossible to portray in a small theater, visual and audio devices are used. One hilarious slide sequence shows the trio racing through an airport, complete with cheesy airport stock footage and gawking onlookers. And anyone who doesn’t laugh out loud during the Cherubs’ prerecorded lounge versions of Judy Collins’ “Both Sides Now” and the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” probably takes life a bit too seriously.

As for the characters, they’re one-dimensional. But hey, they’re supposed to be. Teliha had Kate Jackson’s “Golly gee, I enunciate like a third grade teacher” quality down pat. At first it was a little annoying, but then again, so is Kate Jackson.

Galles’ Jaclyn captured the dreamlike quality and silken voice that Jaclyn Smith still taps into today when called upon to do a Danielle Steele miniseries or a K mart commercial. And what can be said of DeMoss’ portrayal of Farrah, everyone’s favorite Angel/Cherub? It really must be seen to be believed. Let’s just say the performance is over the edge.

“Chuck’s Cherubs” is intended as a spoof of “Charlie’s Angels,” but it’s really more of a mirror. After all, it would be almost impossible to one-up a show as ridiculous as “Charlie’s Angels”--it was so unintentionally funny.

The play mimicked some of the Angels’ trademarks: the patented hair tossing, gun-toting, “Freeze!” But it ignored the most obvious one--the sleazy T&A; factor. Farrah and Jaclyn weren’t attired in true Angels fashion (Kate Jackson was always costumed in pretty drab threads, so she doesn’t lose any points here.) Even though this is supposed to be 10 years later, these characters would still be bra-less and bikini-clad. T&A; was the whole premise of “Charlie’s Angels”; the plots were secondary.

On the whole, “Chuck’s Cherubs” is loads of fun. It may not be for everybody, but if you’re the type of person who would consider going to “The Real Live Brady Bunch,” this play should satisfy your craving for cheesy entertainment, 1970s-style.

“Chuck’s Cherubs--Undercover in Real Estate,” Found Theatre, 251 E. 7th St., Long Beach. Fridays and Saturdays, 8:30 p.m. Ends Sept. 26. $10; (310) 433-3363.