THEATER REVIEW : Musical ‘Radio Gals’ Is as Wacky as It Is Entertaining

Three little kittens, freezing in the snow, are pursued by a voracious Abominable Snowman, out for a hot infusion of kitten stew. Enter the heroes--a St. Bernard, several troops of Canadian Mounties and a cigar-chomping czar--who collectively rescue the kittens, subdue the monster and send him to a priest for rehabilitation.

No, we’re not eavesdropping on a Jungian dream therapy session. This strange little narrative unfolds in song, one of many bizarre numbers in “Radio Gals,” a musical by Mike Craver and Mark Hardwick, at La Mirada Theatre.

Craver and Hardwick, who also collaborated on “Oil City Symphony,” specialize in musical Americana with a country flair. Set in the 1920s in Cedar Ridge, Ark., “Radio Gals” takes the team’s offbeat vision straight into the corn-pone ozone, resulting in a show that is as much a curiosity as it is a solid, sprightly entertainment.

Hazel Hunt (Helen Geller), the town’s retired music teacher, regularly transmits a homespun radio program from her parlor, starring herself and her former prize students, the Hazelnuts. There’s hearty but soulful Rennabelle (Klea Blackhurst); gawky but appealing America (Emily Mikesell); rotund Mabel Swindle (Scott Harlan) and her gaunt sister Azilee (Craver); and the flamboyantly pretentious Gladys Fritts (Eileen Barnett).

When meddling government bureaucrat O.B. Abbott (Lenny Wolpe) threatens to halt the Hazelnuts’ broadcasts, these hitherto convivial “gals” get as riled up as turpentined wildcats. However, even in these remote Arkansas lowlands, Broadway glitz ultimately conquers all.

“Radio Gals” was done last year at the Pasadena Playhouse, and this production features many holdovers from that cast and design team. Consummate pros, the actors display the ease and familiarity of long association, making us feel right at home in Hazel’s cozy parlor (Gary Wissman’s stunning set). Most of the performers are gifted instrumentalists as well as singers, performing their own backup on a dizzying array of musical instruments.

The flimsy plot holds up surprisingly well under the onslaught of general wackiness. Director Alan Bailey and choreographer Patti Colombo go with the zany flow.

The nonstop music, a surreal blend of bluegrass and Rudy Vallee, keeps the action cranking along like a well-tuned Model T. Oh, sometimes our patience strains, as when the Hazelnuts perform full-blown choreography during a live radio feed to New York. And some of these lyrics are hardly Sondheim: “If stars could talk, I think they might be terse--about the secrets of the universe.” On the whole, however, this rollicking musical oddity will make you as happy as a heifer in the corncrib.

* “Radio Gals,” La Mirada Theatre, 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada. Tuesday-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, Nov. 12 and 19, 7:30 p.m.; matinees Nov. 11, 12, 18 and 19, 2:30 p.m. Ends Nov. 19. $32. (310) 944-9801 or (714) 994-6310. Running time: 2 hours.