‘Girl Bar’: Call It a Little-Seen Classic

It’s always happy hour in “Girl Bar” for Celebration Theatre patrons, even if it’s never “Cheers.” Nor is it a sedate “Last Summer on Bluefish Cove.” Except for one straight girl who’s cruising the wild side of feminism, Phyllis Nagy’s women are so far out of the closet they’re beyond lesbian chic. This nightclub may seem like a gay subculture, but “Girl Bar” is open to everyone, thanks to poetic dialogue, charismatic performances and Valerie Landsburg’s user-friendly direction.

But voyeurs beware: These women are not sedate wallflowers. Lipstick-lesbian Charlotte (a dazzling Michelle Agnew) offers warnings while two women dance slow and close. Jean (a heartbreaking Iona Morris) confesses: “I have a problem and it isn’t very pretty. I’m a black dyke. Bad enough to be dyke in this city, worse to be a black woman. . . . Home is where the girls are.”

Drew (a dynamic Sharon Murray) calls herself a “throwback.” Claire (a poignant Jennifer Edwards) is the pitiful Ivy League scholar phoning Jane Austin and Virginia Woolf. Katherine (an intriguing Ellie Gerstein) is the mother “who left my son in a previous life.”

All of them know what they want: Mollie, the straight girl. Does Mollie (a sizzling Lisa Robin Kelly) know what she wants? There are plenty of volunteers willing to guide this waif toward self-realization. The eternal dance of seduction becomes the evening’s motif, the nature of desire its fascinating subject.

Can this be a 5-year-old play that’s only been produced in Tampa? In its West Coast premiere, “Girl Bar” seems like a modern classic of eroticism. r.

* “Girl Bar,” Celebration Theatre, 7051-B Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends April 17. $15-$20. (213) 660-TKTS. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.