Verdict Favors ‘O.J.: The Musical’

Somebody had to do it. And now, a month and a half after the verdicts are in, “O.J.: The Musical, A Pay-Per-View Revue” is playing at San Diego’s Hahn Cosmopolitan.

See Marcia Clark suddenly switch her ‘do as she belts “I’ll quit the ch/ I’ll join William Morris.” Catch Brian (Kato) Kaelin celebrating his celebrity as he gyrates into the mike like a rock star. Watch witness Rosa Lopez flirt with Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. from the stand as she sings, “Thank you, Mr. Johnnie, for the money.” And don’t miss the ad for “Kardashian Cleaners--Guaranteed to Get the Spots Out.”

The Dream Team of Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro and F. Lee Bailey teams up for a song and dance routine with “I’m Johnnie. I’m Robert. I’m F.” And Mark (What I Did for Glove) Fuhrman is welcomed home to the Klan with the gift of a plant and the song “Boysies Will Be Boysies in Idaho.”

It’s pretty funny if you can overcome any legitimate concerns that one more O.J. joke may be overkill (sorry) in the aftermath of the media circus of the century.

Not to fear, though. Co-creators Ric Barr, Navarre T. Perry and Wayne Tibbetts have a fresh and genuinely insightful approach. They wisely leave the high tragedy of O.J. Simpson, the victims and their families out. Instead, they skewer the opportunistic players who helped whip up the public attention that is making them rich in their post-trial jobs and book deals.

Tibbetts, who created the revues “Reunion” and “Mo’ Magic” with Barr, directs and choreographs a talented four-person ensemble in more than two dozen numbers composed by David Brannen with an ear for the singable. The set, credited to Dream Team Productions, is minimal. The focus is on the versatile performers and their witty numbers.

One marvelous actress, JoAnn Reeves, plays all the women--from Lopez to Clark to a TV journalist, housewife trial-junkie, juror and court reporter--with remarkable variety and verve. Rhys Green does a nice, oily job as Cochran. J.D. Meier navigates from Kaelin to Fuhrman to Shapiro with ease, although his Ito is more than a little shaky.

The biggest problem, though, is the timing. It’s a sad testimonial to our pop culture that all the hot air of the trial dissipated so rapidly when the verdict came down Oct. 3. A few months ago, people starved for good O.J. jokes to pass around the office might have flocked to anything with “O.J.” in the title. Now the very name may be a turnoff.

But this is a talented group whose work should be seen. And maybe it will if the civil suit captures public interest. If not, maybe Dream Team Productions should consider making this part of an end-of-the-year revue. Throw in parodies of the Heidi Fleiss trial, the Packwood diaries and the presidential-congressional dogfighting, and they would be well on their way to mocking the worst of 1995.

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‘O.J.: The Musical, A Pay-Per-View Revue’

“O.J.: The Musical, A Pay-Per-View Revue,” Hahn Cosmopolitan Theatre, 444 4th Ave., San Diego. Thursday through Saturday, 8 p.m. Open-ended run. $10. (619) 234-9583. Running time: 1 hour, 7 minutes.

J.D. Meier: Lance Ito, Kato Kaelin, Mark Fuhrman, Robert Shapiro

JoAnn Reeves: Marcia Clark, Rosa Lopez, Court Reporter

Rhys Green: Johnnie Cochran

Jeff Laurence: F. Lee Bailey, Globe Editor

A Dream Team Productions production. Conceived and written by Ric Barr, Navarre T. Perry and Wayne Tibbetts. Music by David Brannen. Directed and choreographed by Tibbetts. Pianist: LeRoy Davidson. Set: Dream Team Productions. Lights: Ben L. Hudson. Sound: John Gilliland. Costumes: Jeanne Reith. Stage manager: Tina Ross.