At ‘Night,’ Shakespeare Gets the Heebie-Bee Gees

Utilities officials take note: If you need a new energy source, try TroubadourTheatre Company’s wacky and electric “A Midsummer Saturday Night’s Fever Dream,” at Burbank’s Falcon Theatre.

In 1999, the company’s “12th Dog Night” combined Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and the music of Three Dog Night. Last summer--in Garden Grove, Santa Monica and Fullerton--the group introduced “Midsummer,” a goofy amalgam of the stripped-down story elements of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and disco tunes from “Saturday Night Fever.”

Silly? Sure, but the result is a family-friendly delight that blends improv, acrobatics, dance and the driving rhythms of an onstage band. The gross-out humor will appeal to kids, the sharp-witted ad-libs will amuse their elders, and all will be charmed by the show’s sheer momentum and bombast.

Director Matt Walker, who plays Peter Quince and Puck in the show, has been professionally trained as a clown, and a circus sensibility is evident in his deceptively anarchic staging, actually an exercise in finely calibrated mayhem. Forget standard entrances: These actors vault on stage, courtesy of an offstage trampoline. Even more impressive than the nonstop aerobic activity, however, is the bubbling sense of fun and camaraderie that all these performers clearly share.

The cast includes Michael Sulprizio, Meleney Humphrey, Ben Johnson, J.J. Snyder, Beth Kennedy, Tim Groff, Rick Batalla, Mike Teele, Michelle Johnson, Guillermo Robles, Briant Wells, Jordan Savage and Andy Lopez. Dave Barker leads the band, and Lisa Valenzuela, Barker’s co-musical director, contributes vocals and sound effects. All are worthy of mention and attention.

* “A Midsummer Saturday Night’s Fever Dream,” Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank. Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Jan. 28. $15-$20. (818) 955-8101.