Finding Campy ‘Joy’ in Gay Romance

Writer-director John Fisher’s “The Joy of Gay Sex” at the St. Genesius Theatre isn’t an instructional manual. There is no nudity or simulated acts of sex. Fisher’s new comedy is a charming mix of high camp, old tunes, modest displays of affection and self-indulgent winks.

Our smirky, self-destructive narrator, Nick (Nicholas Gilhool), traces his and his friends’ romantic entanglements during his graduate days at Berkeley. A guy with a gay Gestapo attitude, Nick intellectually bludgeons others into submission by insisting that every man and woman should be out (way, way out) of the closet. His dissertation topic argues that Jesus was gay.

His professor and former lover Paul (Paul Cady, who also provides live piano accompaniment) is semi-closeted and lusts after a boy-toy undergraduate (J.T. Tepnapa), the current plaything for Nick’s best friend, Elsa (Elsa Wolthausen). But Elsa finds herself straying in a different direction--a beautiful woman, Kent (Kent Masters-King), whom she notices crossing the street.

To make matters more convoluted and cuter, Kent happens to be best friends with the supposedly heterosexual Gabriel (Gabriel Macen), to whom Nick is attracted.

The production features partner switching, some disco dancing (energetically choreographed by Fisher and Darryl Stephens) and wonderfully nasty drunk tirades.

The show is tighter and lighter than Fisher’s “Medea: The Musical.” Although the singing isn’t always first-rate, this little trifle is a lot of fun.

* “The Joy of Gay Sex,” St. Genesius Theatre, Havenhurst Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood. Thursdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 7 and 10 p.m. Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Oct. 8. $20. (323) 906-1977. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.

Polite Portrayal Is at the Heart of ‘JFK’

In his one-man show about John F. Kennedy, “JFK on JFK” at the Stella Adler Theatre, Michael Shannon catches the overburdened weariness of a world leader during explosive times in a densely packed, informative script. Yet Shannon doesn’t have the competitive swagger of a man indulging in high-profile philandering and politically dangerous acts.

“Something has happened at the motorcade,” declares a voice on tape. Then music and more sound effects take us back to the 1940s, World War II and the bombing of Hiroshima.

Mostly using the president’s own words, Shannon paints a complicated picture. He doesn’t ignore Kennedy’s penchant for extramarital affairs--with Judith Exner, for example, the mistress he shared with mobster Sam Giancana.

But the more central concerns of this president are Cuba, Castro, communism and Vietnam. Domestically, the civil rights movement violently erupts as Martin Luther King Jr. pressures the president to act.

Director Vickery Turner moves Shannon seamlessly among three clearly defined areas onstage: the podium, the Oval Office and a rocking chair. Yet there’s a tendency toward heavy-handedness in the technical aspects. The intermittent voice-over, repeating the phrase “Something has happened at the motorcade,” is hardly necessary. Although Parker Young’s lighting design effectively represents some events, such as the atomic explosion in Hiroshima, too many background lighting changes are distracting.

This is a polite political portrait of a charismatic president that shows admirable research but lacks a thesis.

* “JFK on JFK,” Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends Oct. 1. $15. (818) 227-9602. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.

God’s on Trial in Satire That Needs More Bite

If you’re going to put God on trial and have actors portraying Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as attorneys in a courtroom parody, you’d better have some razor-sharp reasons. Dan Riley’s “Spinelli” at the Long Beach Playhouse’s Studio Theatre has a few amusing points, but his satire is like inflating a flat tire--a lot of air is pointlessly puffed.

Adam (Beau Moore) and Eve (Thea Sutton) charge God (Richard Bender Allan) with entrapment--although it’s a banana and not an apple that does the couple in.

The couple have Tracy (Mark Finnell) representing them. Of course, God then decides to have Hepburn (Tina Gloss) on his side.

If you don’t get the reference to the movie “Adam’s Rib,” Riley makes sure to mention it, along with Tracy and Hepburn’s Oscar tally.

God is a poor, put-upon old man who constantly battles his evil brother, the unseen Spinelli. Under director Danny Leclair, Moore and Sutton are too bouncy to be convincingly aggrieved complainants. Gloss’ Hepburn speech mannerisms wear thin, and few sparks fly between her and Finnell. Ian Downs as the snake--Lyle D. Serpent--is funny with his Brooklyn accent, but Riley’s bit about pronouncing the snake’s name in French stretches on too long.

H.P. Drake III and Tanya Schlicht’s handsome wood set deserves better material and less obvious lighting than the overly emphatic design by Bill E. Kickbrush.

Riley, who has a graduate degree in religion, created a harmless, meandering piece that goes nowhere near parody paradise.

* “Spinelli,” Studio Theatre, Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sept. 17, Oct. 1, 2 p.m. Ends Oct. 7. $15-$18. (562) 494-1616. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.