Snappy, Campy Parody in ‘No Place Like Hollywood’

Building on the late Michel Woolworth’s original concept, Dan Berkowitz and Shirley Hillard have written a fun musical parody with the music and lyrics of Wayne Moore. Although toward the end the story line of “There’s No Place Like Hollywood” at the Stella Adler Theatre is shakier than the San Andreas fault, the sight gags and one-liners, all performed with campy enthusiasm by a talented ensemble, make this a fitting tribute to tourism and Tinseltown.

A star-struck tourist from Kansas named Dorothy (Beth Malone) gets a knock on the noggin in front of Mann’s Chinese Theatre, and she begins a strange journey. Toto’s nowhere to be seen, and the evil witch is now an agent (Eric J. Olson) with a casting couch, and the play soon strays off the yellow brick road. Dorothy’s not trying to get home, she’s trying for a star-making movie role.

The people she meets along the way include Hollywood luminaries from the past and present--Douglas Fairbanks (Jeff Griggs), Mary Pickford (Amy Collett), Theda Bara (Melissa Brandzel), Nelson Eddy (Scott Davidson) and Jeanette MacDonald (Anette Michelle Sanders), Barbra Streisand (Brandzel), Woody Allen (Olson) and many more. The plot collapses into short sketches--some as transitions between musical numbers and the many costume changes.

Still, the Carmen Miranda (Clay Adkins) number “Bananas” is well worth the price of admission. Adkins also appears as a flesh-baring Cher. These roles and all the impersonations benefit greatly from Valentine Hooven’s witty and well-executed costume design.

Rick Sparks keeps the pace snappy and the choreography humorous. This show amounts to an irreverent admiration of the faults, folly and glamour aspects--both real and false--of Hollywood.

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“There’s No Place Like Hollywood,” Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends Sept. 9. $25. (323) 960-5511. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes.