THEATER REVIEW : ‘Faustorama the Musical’ Fails to Sing in San Diego

Mephistopheles tries to trick Faust into going to hell in “Faustorama the Musical,” but it’s the audience that gets a foretaste of eternal flames by sitting through two hours and 40 minutes of pretentious, boring, illogical and irritating nonsense.

This new musical, described as a seven-year work-in-progress by the San Diego-based British author and composer John Maxwell Taylor, is scheduled to play at San Diego’s Hahn Cosmopolitan Theatre through April 11 and then move to the Henry Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles on April 29 for an open-ended run.

As if Los Angeles doesn’t have enough problems.

Taylor recasts the Faust story in contemporary times--but in a way that makes no sense. The title, “Faustorama,” refers to the car in which Mephistopheles gives Faust a ride to his various temptations.

God (uncredited in the program)--a white man in a Roman tunic--wants Mephistopheles (Tom Jepperson) to buy Faust’s soul . . . or does he? It’s not clear.

The original Faust has been reincarnated as a Dr. Henry J. Morpheus (Taylor, starring in his own show)--or has he? Mephistopheles himself seems genuinely confused about this.

There’s little dialogue between the cliche-ridden songs, most of them poorly sung by the 20-person cast. And what passes for jokes is outright misogyny--with the world’s problems blamed on women who try to dominate men.

The piece starts out with Mephistopheles saying of his conflict with God: “I’m utterly bored by the whole affair. It’s all so predictable.” That devil would have made an excellent theater critic.

* “Faustorama the Musical,” Hahn Cosmopolitan Theatre, 444 Fourth Ave., San Diego. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends April 11. $18-$25; (619) 234-9583. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.

Danielle Forsgren: Helena (Helen of Troy) Tom Jepperson: Mephistopheles Derinda Lee: Margaretta John Maxwell Taylor:a Dr. Morpheus

Director David Obele. Music, lyrics and book John Maxwell Taylor. Technical direction Sandra Rossiter. Choreography Sandra Rossiter. Costumes Sandra Forsgren. Lighting Thomas G. Ontiveros. Production manager Shelley Anderson.