A Tussle to Determine the ‘Leader of the Pack’

The marketing for the Theater League revival of “Leader of the Pack,” at Thousand Oaks’ Kavli Theatre, claims that the four-man Sha Na Na is the collective star.

For anyone who knows what the 1985 show is about, this sounds like a mistake. Subtitled “The Ellie Greenwich Musical,” the main subject is a woman who, with her partner, Jeff Barry, wrote many of the girl-group hits of the ‘60s. Is Sha Na Na now cross-dressing?

Na. The group’s role is to provide narration and to play occasional supporting characters. In the show’s framework, the punkish-looking niece of one of Sha Na Na’s members wants to go into the music industry; her elders tell her the story of Greenwich, one of modern pop’s female pioneers. Actors play Greenwich and Barry.

The public emphasis on Sha Na Na is awkward. The original book of the show was mildly feminist. One scene in particular paints Greenwich as resisting attempts by Barry, her songwriting partner turned husband, to make her recede into the professional background and start making babies. Yet in this production, the attention that should go to Greenwich and the actress who plays her goes instead to an all-male group. The program tells us a lot about Sha Na Na, little about Greenwich.

Parts of “Leader” are lightly likable as a trip down memory lane, to the strains of “Be My Baby,” “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Chapel of Love” and the title song. Several notable local names--director Richard Kline, choreographer Sha Newman, designers John Iacovelli and Kim Killingsworth--are behind the scenes.

As an overall package, however, “Pack” lies uneasily between the revue format of “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” and the book musical style of “Dreamgirls,” possessing neither the imaginative staging of the former nor the dramatic heft (as well as the even more imaginative staging) of the latter.

Whenever Ellie (Elyse Wolf) starts to sing, chances are that within a few bars she’ll be replaced onstage by a quartet of dancing couples and/or chiffon-clad Darlene (Melodye Perry), who is loosely based on girl-group star Darlene Love. Although these variety show-style segments are performed well enough, they dilute the dramatic momentum.

Not that the book is enthralling. It could have been less conventional: The real Greenwich, for example, worked as a teacher before finding success as a songwriter, which might have produced an interesting transitional scene. But here she simply talks about how her mother wanted her to be able to fall back on teaching--with no indication that she ever actually taught.

Near the end, the book runs out of things to say about Greenwich. Poor Wolf gets stuck with an excruciatingly bad poor-me solo, “Rock of Rages,” jarringly followed by the up-tempo “What a Guy” and then the sappy “We’re Gonna Make It (After All).”

The second act ends, as does the first, with one of the best Greenwich/Barry collaborations (with Phil Spector), “River Deep, Mountain High”--a brilliant pop tune by any standard. Unfortunately, the arrangement and the performance are more passionate the first time around.

* “Leader of the Pack,” Kavli Theatre, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Tonight, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends Sunday. $29.50-$38.50. (805) 583-8700, (213) 480-3232. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.

Leader of the Pack

Elyse Wolf: Ellie

Jocko Marcellino, Screamin’ Scott Simon, Donny York, Reggie Battise: Sha Na Na

Tony Spinosa: Jeff

Melodye Perry: Darlene

Heather Gilbert: Nora

Book by Anne Beatts, based on the play by Melanie Mintz. Additional material by Jack Heifner. Adapted by Mark Edelman. Music and lyrics by Ellie Greenwich & Friends. Directed by Richard Kline. Choreographed by Sha Newman. Costumes by Tom Phillips and Larry Watts. Musical director Lloyd Cooper. Sound by Mark Cowburn. Production stage manager John M. Galo.