‘Creole Mafia’ Showcases Dynamic Duo

Mark Broyard and Roger Guenveur Smith’s “Inside the Creole Mafia” at the Fountainhead isn’t just a cut above most performance works about racial identity. It’s a cut above most performance works, period.

A seductive cascade of acting, music and shtick (plus a yummy pre-show buffet, by Jonake’s Creole Cuisine), “Inside the Creole Mafia” may not have as many masks and goofy hats as Mardi Gras, but it’s got the same cut-loose spirit.

Yet this is no dumbo gumbo romp. There’s a serious topic underneath all the funning around. Broyard and Smith achieve what many merely attempt: Allowing the experiences of one group to shine light on the ployglot reality that is contemporary America.

How do they do it? For starters, the velvet-voiced Broyard and Smith, who’s familiar from several Spike Lee films, are consummately skilled performers. They don’t just act and sing well, they also play off of each other with the timing and repartee of vaudeville veterans.

Broyard and Smith are sharp writers too. Witty and versatile, they attack the nexus of issues surrounding race with candor and intelligence. And the eclectic jokes, which have been updated from previous outings, are topical without being predictable. Nobody’s safe: not Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, not Robert Guillaume, not “certain Afro-centric filmmakers from Brooklyn” and certainly not the Creole community itself.

Whether they’re twirling umbrellas and tooting horns, or reeling off a tongue-in-cheek list of Creole expressions and attaching these epithets to audience members, Broyard and Smith enjoy the high jinks. Their energy is full-throttle and the party ambience carries from skit to skit. Yet the dynamic duo also knows how to slow down to drive home a point about, say, the privilege that comes with lighter skin or less-nappy hair.

When Broyard and Smith first performed this piece in L.A. in late 1991, it stood out for its inventiveness and craftsmanship. Since then, the performance scene has become glutted with works on racial identity. But given how formulaic and reductive so many of those efforts have been, it’s now clear that “Inside the Creole Mafia” is an exceptional work.

Few artists approach the sophistication, insight and sheer playfulness of this cosmopolitan look at identity. It’s anti-racist without being doctrinaire.

“Inside the Creole Mafia” has had limited stands in L.A. before, but this is its first run. And even if you have seen the piece, it’s worth a return trip. There are lessons here, not just for theater artists trying to grapple with the delicate topic of race, but for everybody else too.

* “Inside the Creole Mafia,” Fountainhead Theatre, 1110 N. Hudson Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Ends Oct. 17. $15-$17.50. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

Over-the-Top Evita in South Bay

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical about Argentina’s former first lady demands two strong leads, but the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities’ undersung and over-miked “Evita” has less than one. It doesn’t hold a candle to L.A.’s last tango with the same show--a bus-and-truck production that played Pasadena and Costa Mesa earlier in the year.

Legend has it that former dictator Juan Peron used to keep Eva’s mummified corpse in his house. The musical leaves off years before this time, of course. But it’s the spirit of that stone-cold Eva--and not the glam queen--that inhabits Ilysia J. Pierce’s screechy and strained turn in the title role.

It’s no surprise, then, that the show is Che’s--even more so than usual. Christopher Carothers isn’t snaky in the way the narrator-commentator should be, but he does occasionally put his stamp on the part, particularly in the “rainbow tour” section.

The production is wildly uneven and overly literal. When Eva confronts the aristocracy early on in the show, for example, she runs in front of them and flips her skirt up to show her panties, schoolgirl style. It’s the kind of stage business that belongs in a parody, but not here. Even Lloyd Webber doesn’t require that you spell things out that much.

* “Evita,” Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, Manhattan Beach and Aviation boulevards, Redondo Beach, (310) 372-4477. Friday-Sunday, 8 p.m., Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends Oct. 3. $18.50-$27.50. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.