‘Swingtime Canteen,’ a Patriotic Bugle Call

Sometimes you have to break a promise to yourself. In the case of this review, that promise was never, ever to observe in print that any play, musical or other type of theatrical presentation is “all the more resonant after Sept. 11.” Because what isn’t?

But then along comes “Swingtime Canteen” at the La Mirada Theatre, the red, white and blue story of a group of women during World War II, putting on a USO show in 1944 for the troops in London. Filled with swing-era chestnuts like “Bugle Call Rag,” “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” and a particularly pretty rendition of “I’ll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time.” Dripping nostalgia for the Good War on a stage draped with bunting and American flags. Featuring a lead cast of five spunky performers, dressed in all-white like some kind of boogie-woogie angels, who light candles in the dark instead of succumbing to fear during a blackout brought on by a bomb scare. A show that asks the audience to sing “God Bless America” at the end--and they do so, willingly. It’s all the more....

OK, it’s resonant. But is “Swingtime Canteen” any good?

In some ways, it doesn’t have to be. The 120-minute musical, performed without intermission, is about a group of volunteer performers from the Hollywood Canteen, each with her own reason for wanting to go on tour to entertain the troops. They are led by gracefully aging MGM movie legend Marian Ames (Rende Rae Norman), who is smarting from four movie flops in a row. Her troupe includes Katie Gammersflugel (Tami Tappan Damiano), Ames’ wide-eyed niece from Wisconsin; a Rosie the Riveter type named Topeka (Amy Elizabeth Jones), who plays a mean piano; Roberta Wall as the brash and man-hungry Jo (on drums) and the sultry and sullen Lilly (Natalie Nucci), who starts the tour with a bad attitude but ends up part of the team.

Because it’s a show about mostly amateurs warming up for their first radio appearance, any rough edges--and there are some--seem only fitting. There are no excuses, though, for the skittish sound system, which winked out on Nucci while she belted out her sexy solo from atop the grand piano. What counts is spirit, and in this production, directed by Alyson Reed and presented by McCoy Rigby Entertainment, the gals have got it. It’s an effective and often moving blend of the corny and the sweet. In this setting, it’s entirely believable that the group would suddenly find themselves stepping in for a planned appearance by the Andrews Sisters.

A historical note: The show was written by Linda Thorson Bond, William Repicci, and Charles Busch. Busch, the author of the plays “Psycho Beach Party,” “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom” and, more recently, “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife,” is noted for playing as many roles in drag as out of it. Busch portrayed the role of Jo off-Broadway in “Swingtime Canteen” in 1995--which may have lent that production a resonance about which one can only speculate.

*

“Swingtime Canteen,” La Mirada Theatre, 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada. $35. Through Feb. 17. Tue.-Fri, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2:30 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2:30 and 7 p.m. (714) 994-6310 or lamiradatheatre.com.

Katie...Tami Tappan Damiano

Topeka...Amy Elizabeth Jones

Marian...Rende Rae Norman

Lilly...Natalie Nucci

Jo...Roberta Wall

Musicians: Sal Lozano, Jay Mason, Jennifer Hall, Charlie Morillas, Martha Catlin, Craig Ware, Darrel Gardner, Gary Halopoff, Anne King, Tim Christensen.

*

Book by Linda Thorsen Bond, William Repicci and Charles Busch. Orchestrations and vocal arrangements by Bob McDowell. Special material by Dick Gallagher. Directed by Alyson Reed. Set by Tom Buderwitz. Lighting by Pauline Jenkins. Costumes by Jose Rivera. Sound by Julie Ferrin. Musical direction by Scott Harlan. Stage manager Gina Farina.