THEATER REVIEW : Problems Bedevil ‘God’, but Thou Shalt Laugh

Like its title, the show “In the Name of God, or Honk If You Love Satire” is nearly too long by half and weakest in the latter section. With trimming, buffing and polishing, though, Melanie MacQueen’s musical collage on faith and reason could potentially become a muscular piece of thinking person’s musical comedy.

As things stand now, it’s amazing that the show, playing at the NoHo Studios, makes much of this risky material work. Some families should never talk about religion, and musical comedies shouldn’t either. With rare exceptions, religion on stage usually becomes the whipping boy of everything that’s wrong with the world.

Flagrantly ignoring all of this, writer-lyricist-director MacQueen takes her 10-person ensemble, and us, through a comic history of world faiths that’s rarely solemn but never as mercilessly satiric as, say, Mel Brooks.

After a parade of religion’s superstars, from Moses to Confucius, debate a modern-day skeptic known as the Voice of Reason (Michelle Holmes in Act I, James C. Schendel in Act II), the show cleverly accordions a ton of prehistory, Western conquest and Middle Eastern past into some delightful sendups. (In one of several strong characterizations, Paul Miles Schneider as a clueless Columbus tries to convince Rena Wolf’s funny Indian Princess of “the one true church”--his.)

This is goofball history cleverly put across, as when Daniel Leslie’s droll, pompous Pharaoh barges in complaining that the show is ignoring the ancient Egyptian dynasty (“I’m talking with a British accent because I want to!”).

With the Voice of Reason as our guide, “In the Name of God” smoothly dissolves from skit to song and back to skit again--with some of the songs (by MacQueen and composer David Coleman) hard acts to follow in themselves. The Gospel-ish “Tithe, Tithe, Tithe,” as well as “You’re Going to Hell,” are such strong theater showpieces that they avoid being simple swipes at fundamentalists.

Act I, though, fades out with a lame ballad, “I Remember,” jarringly out of tone with what’s come before, and Act II trips repeatedly. Schendel’s wimpy man replacing Holmes’ sassy female Voice of Reason is a big drag on the second half--that, and some songs and skits that are bloated and overlong.

Only late into the act does “In the Name of God” retrieve its original, good-naturedly comic bounce. Despite the poor use of Schendel, no one in the cast loses gas: Richard Cansino, Kim Paraventi, Felicity Raugust, Dennis Strickland and Larry Rosen are all funny and can really sing. And they’re supported by the potent trio of Coleman (keyboards), Robert Oriol (bass) and John Ritchie (percussion).

It’s the show that lets them down, but with some ruthless and necessary editing, “In the Name of God” could be the right kind of smart, acerbic antidote to the recent avalanche of numbing musical revivals. Nostalgia this ain’t.

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WHERE AND WHEN

What: “In the Name of God.” Location: NoHo Studios, 5215 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Hours: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Ends July 16. Price: $12. Call: (213) 385-5515.