‘Ennio,’ Can You Spare Us Some Changes?

If Ennio Marchetto did his act for 15 minutes on Ocean Front Walk in Venice, it would be a wonderful reminder of how interesting L.A. is. If he did it for 30 minutes in a club, it would be part of a fairly entertaining night on the town.

But when he performs “Ennio” for a little more than an hour at the Geffen Playhouse, the question arises--as Peggy Lee, one of the celebrities he impersonates, might ask--”Is that all there is?”

Context counts.

Marchetto is no garden-variety celebrity caricaturist. In addition to using mime and clown makeup and lip-syncing to a recorded soundtrack, he wears elaborate, vividly colored paper costumes. He transforms himself from one show-biz icon into another--and then into dozens more--by making clever alterations in his extremely malleable outfits and the gestures that back them up.

The stream of images begins when Marchetto enters the stage as a man preparing for bedtime. No sooner has he fallen into slumber when Marilyn Monroe appears. It’s as if this guy can’t escape “Entertainment Tonight” and People magazine, even in his sleep.

We’re not supposed to feel sorry for his troubled soul. We’re supposed to revel in his dreams. Indeed, he never wakes up; the rest of the show is one famous face, somewhat askew, after another, and the original everyman figure never reappears.

Presumably we’re supposed to just sit back and wallow in the celebrity overload.

Marchetto probably doesn’t think of his show as an example of downright celebrity worship--after all, he might say, he’s poking fun at the famous. Whitney Houston gets stuck, like a broken record, as she sings “I Will Always Love You.” Barbra Streisand, in profile, picks her nose. The Three Tenors fight among themselves.

Gradually they all seem to blend in with one another--literally. The Pope becomes Fidel Castro. An enormous mask that represents 21 Gregorian chanters somehow transforms into Ricky Martin, perched on top of the globe. Shortly after Diana Ross sings “You turn me inside out and round and round,” she has morphed into Janis Joplin.

Perhaps Marchetto is making a wry comment about the assembly line that manufactures celebrities; when one wears out his or her welcome, another quickly rises to usurp the top spot. However, assembly lines are not especially dramatic.

By devoting roughly equal time to every luminary, and cutting that time down to what seems like little more than one minute each, so as to squeeze in more and more, Marchetto guarantees that any extended satirical comment he’s trying to make is lost in the shuffle.

Ultimately, “Ennio” becomes more of a love fest than a lampoon. Most of the real people behind his caricatures aren’t going to object to being included in his pantheon; in the majority of his rapid-fire sketches, there is no especially damning visual punch line. And even those that are slightly more barbed pass by so fast that we’re quickly distracted by the next in line.

This is a show that could end at just about any point, and it would make little difference--most of its moments are no more or less thoughtful or comic or cutting than any of the others. There is no variation of mood, no sense that we are gradually gathering steam or moving toward a culmination.

Again, these are matters that might not matter on a sidewalk or in a nightclub, where theatrical expectations are lower. The Geffen Playhouse, however, is one of L.A.’s big-deal theaters, so something that is such a little deal as “Ennio” feels out of place.

Marchetto does try to stay current, at least in the world of show biz. Britney Spears is here, and Marchetto briefly becomes Eminem, with huge cutout hands slashing through the foreground, as he sings “I am whatever you say I am.” Then he immediately transforms into a character from “La Cage aux Folles” singing “I Am What I Am.” This is one of the few moments in the show that merits a few seconds of additional thought.

Don’t expect any topical humor from the political sphere, though. Perhaps Marchetto figured that any caricaturing of Bush and Gore would be outdated after the election. Ha.

The primary pleasure of the show is derived from the quick costume changes, especially those that happen in front of our eyes. Sosthen Hennekam shares credit with Marchetto for design and direction, and they certainly demonstrate an eye for whimsical detail. If you want to leave a show humming the costumes, here it is.

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* “Ennio,” Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 4 and 8:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m.; also Dec. 13, 2 p.m. Ends Dec. 31. $20-$42. (310) 208-5454. Running time: 1 hour, 15 minutes.