Last Chance Theater

Last Chance Theater

“Pinafore!”--A Gilbert & Sullivan parody about gay sailors serving in their own separate Navy? On paper, the concept sounds fluffy at best, more like a glorified comedy sketch than a complete show. Put aside your initial reservations, however, and you’re likely to find “Pinafore!” a double-edged treat. Not only is the show a giddy comic romp, it also is a wickedly incisive sendup of the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The belly laughs keep coming, informed by a rueful subtext more often than not. One of the first theatrical directors (before the late Victorian era, the discipline of “directing” was largely unknown), W.S. Gilbert was an exacting taskmaster who wrested order from the egalitarian stew that typified theater of the day. Gilbert was famous for tailoring his productions to his performers’ strengths while downplaying their weaknesses. Director and adapter Mark Savage is a fitting descendant of that tradition. Not only is Savage’s staging a triumph of compressed energy, but it is surprisingly faithful to its source material and sharply professional in almost every particular.

--From the review

by F. Kathleen Foley

“Pinafore!” Celebration Theatre, 7051-B Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 289-2999. Today, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m. Ends Sunday. $22 to $27.50.

Also closing this weekend:

“Big River”--The Roger Miller-William Hauptman musical adaptation of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” ends Sunday at Deaf West Theatre, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, (818) 762-2773.

“Fiddler on the Roof”--The national tour of a new production starring Theodore Bikel ends Sunday at the Wilshire Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (213) 365-3500, (714) 740-7878.

“Hay Fever”--Director Art Manke’s sumptuous revival of Noel Coward’s perfectly frivolous comedy closes locally Sunday, before going on tour, at A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale.

E Chen and Tony Feher--An exhibition of Chen’s installation, built entirely from products purchased at stores, and Feher’s sculptures, made from industrial and consumer products, closes Sunday at the UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood, (310) 443-7000.

SuperCroc--The replica reptile--as big as a bus--that ate dinosaurs moves to the next stop on its national tour after Sunday. At the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd., L.A., (213) 763-3466.