‘Bluebeard’ a Comic Melodrama

If you thought sexual identity was confusing enough already, watch out--the evil genius Dr. Khanazar von Bluebeard is determined to add a third sex to the gene pool in Charles Ludlam’s comic melodrama “Bluebeard,” at the Hollywood Court Theatre.

A broad pastiche of Shakespeare, “The Island of Dr. Moreau” and the familiar Bluebeard legend, Ludlam’s campy spoof is long on puns and freewheeling allusions, though sometimes at the expense of coherence.

“As my beard is blue, I’ll twist some human flesh into a genital new,” proclaims the doctor (Richard Magram), with no apologies to “King Lear’s” Kent. For a maniac, Magram proves surprisingly genial, but then I’ve always had a soft spot for mad scientists and their obsessive efforts to reshape the social order to suit their own purposes--there’s something charmingly reminiscent of Washington lobbyists about them.

In any case, Bluebeard’s affable demeanor comes in handy with the ladies, who fling themselves at him with enviable regularity. Natalie King is hilarious as a strait-laced Victorian reduced to quivering hedonism by the doctor’s advances, and Carolyn Chiodini as the victim of his experiments sports her newly grafted appendage with stylish abandon.

Even the campiest vehicles are always funnier if the performers resist acting as if they’re in on the joke. Most successful in this regard are the two most outlandish characters, the sensuous cat-woman (Kara Maria Miller) and the hunchbacked servant (Mitch Rubman), who stay solidly rooted in their alternate reality no matter how silly the dialogue. However, Janet DeLong’s decrepit housekeeper and Marc Shrem’s dashing hero could use some toning-down.

Occasional awkwardness and misfiring technicals in Gregor Ogan’s staging are less damaging with this kind of satire--up to a certain point, the worse it is, the better.

* “Bluebeard,” Hollywood Court Theatre, United Methodist Church, 6817 Franklin Ave., Hollywood. Today, Saturday, Dec. 21-23, Dec. 28-30, 8 p.m.; this Sunday only, 5 p.m. Ends Dec. 30. $15. (213) 480-3232, (714) 740-2000, (619) 220-TIXS. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes.