Phoenix’s show is pleasant diversion

The first image of Charles Phoenix’s “God Bless Americana: The Retro Holiday Slide Show” at the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre is a young matron perfectly poised before her festooned tree, like Carol Merrill on “Let’s Make a Deal.”

Between this, and the Goodyear Christmas compilation wafting from the speakers, the sense of baby-boomer nostalgia is acute before the show begins.

Then our host arrives, launching his latest edition of kitsch archeology with a confession: “I am an addict, and you are all my enablers.” This is both simple accuracy and a massive understatement.

A younger Silver Lake version of Garrison Keillor, “histo-tainer” Phoenix is a lifelong retro junkie. For a decade, he has collected vintage photographic slides, favoring the 1940s through the 1960s. This passion has since evolved into his unique, wildly funny novelty attraction.

The scattershot structure traverses the calendar year, accompanied by Phoenix’s rambling, spontaneous commentary. Pulling facts from the slide notations, his eagle eye spots the tiniest details. When these land, as in two sisters dressed identically to their decor, the effect is priceless.

The more subversive potential is scarcely developed. Phoenix simply notes a roomful of cigarette smokers beside an infant, or the recurring toted guns, without shaping any theatrical overview. Nevertheless, both tour and guide offer fine entertainment, the perfect diversion to get those visiting relatives off your couch.

-- David. C. Nichols

“God Bless Americana: The Retro Holiday Slide Show,” American Cinematheque, Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Today-Saturday, Wednesday and Nov. 29-30, Dec. 4-7, 11, 13-14, 8 p.m.; ends Dec. 14. $20. (866) 754-3374. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.

*

Bright lights, drag city

The strangely bewitching country singers -- who have lacy ruffles upon their bosoms and hair piled as high as any Appalachian mountain -- are just a few chords into their first a cappella harmony when an extraordinary sound issues from the smallest and daintiest of the quartet. It is a resonant bass, produced as only a man can.

That’s because these Dixie chicks are actually guys, appearing at the Celebration Theatre in the country-bluegrass drag musical “She-Haw in Howdy Hollywood.” Like the squeaky-clean boys of “Forever Plaid,” the slightly soiled girls of “She-Haw” arrive on the wings of a show-business dream. Their hourlong program recounts a westward migration from the rural South to the bright lights of Los Angeles. Recollections hopscotch from men loved and lost (in such songs as “Gonorrhea” and “Untie My Man”) to musical influences (such as Dolly Parton, in “Those Mammaries”) to “Hee-Haw”-like tributes to cities visited along the way (including Laguna Beach and the physical splendors of a “Bubble Butted Boogie Boy”).

The melodies are instantly recognizable as hits by everyone from Tammy Wynette to the Oak Ridge Boys, given slightly scandalous sound-alike lyrics that earn appreciative roars of laughter from the Celebration’s largely gay and lesbian audience.

This off-kilter humor is the strongest suit of a show written and performed by Chantilly Demoisier (Mark Salyer), S’fonda Hicks (Philip Edwards), Etta Mame (Kleev Guessford) and, most memorably, the adorable, pigtailed bass, Crystal Chandelier (Neal Allen Hyde). Although director Randee Trabitz, choreographer Beau Puckett and costumer Richard Bostard have attempted to give this high camp a high gloss, the proceedings retain a charmingly rough-around-the edges quality thanks to fumbled lines, toppled wigs and precarious, platform-heeled movements.

It’s all perfectly mindless, but if you’re in a silly enough mood, it’s also gosh-darn fun.

-- Daryl H. Miller

“She-Haw in Howdy Hollywood,” Celebration Theatre, 7051-B Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Friday and Saturday, 11 p.m. Ends Saturday. (323) 957-1884. Running time: 1 hour.

*

Round and round the roundelay

“Temporary doesn’t mean brief.” These words form the crux of “Sleeping Around,” receiving its U.S. premiere at the Rude Guerrilla Theater Company in Santa Ana.

Hilary Fannin, Stephen Greenhorn, Abi Morgan and Mark Ravenhill’s 1998 update of Arthur Schnitzler’s 1897 “Reigen” (better known as “La Ronde”) explores the infinite depths within transitory human intimacy.

Like David Hare’s 1998 counterpart “The Blue Room,” “Sleeping” charts a coital round robin, with each new partner carrying forward to the next coupling, coming full circle by the finale. Unlike “Blue Room,” however, “Sleeping” probes the emotional recesses of its characters, harvesting more humor and sexual voltage than Hare’s socioeconomic emphasis achieved.

Dave Barton’s direction is strong and the designs are resourceful, especially Dawn Hess’ dank lighting. Though the play was conceived for two actors playing all the roles, Barton casts the parts individually, for maximum contrast and intensity.

The physically fearless ensemble includes Deborah Conroy, Paul Nicholson, Kelly Quigley, Steven Parker, Johnna Adams, Craig Johnson, Michelle Bylenga, Bryan Jennings, Lynne Harris, Aurelio Locsin, Julie Jagusiak and Keith Bennett. All 12 display convincing dialects and notable commitment.

This is fortunate, for the alternately scabrous and poetic vignettes lack a consistently unified voice, a liability of multiple authorship. While this doesn’t prohibit interest, it does permit detachment, rather like a BBC version of “Berlin Alexanderplatz.”

-- D.C.N.

“Sleeping Around,” Empire Theater, 200 N. Broadway, Santa Ana. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Dec. 12 only, 8 p.m. No shows Nov. 29-Dec. 1. Ends Dec. 15. $18. (714) 547-4688. Profanity and nudity; no one under 17 admitted. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.

*

Vicious cycle exposed in ‘complications’

AIDS has ushered in a language of “complications,” cataloging the long list of ailments to which HIV-infected bodies are vulnerable. Michael Kearns borrows from this lexicon to suggest that life itself rarely comes without complications.

Presented at Highways Performance Space, his new play, which he calls “complications,” is a series of monologues by nine characters linked through sexual encounters.

Kearns performs the first monologue, about a man who idolizes Jackie Kennedy for her ability to face grief with dignity. Having had to endure the deaths of several lovers, he has frequently turned to her example.

Most of the subsequent characters are also gay, some are HIV-positive and several are non-white. Society misunderstands and fears them, and the resulting alienation has poisoned their ability to give or receive love. (In order, they are portrayed by Joe Quintero, Steve Callahan, Nick Salamone, Joe Gill, Jimmy Shaw, Dean Howell, Syd Rushing and Alisa Melendrez.)

Isolated in tightly focused pools of light, the actors have only their voices and bodies to work with. Kearns, who also serves as the show’s director, makes sure that every inflection speaks volumes.

As always, Kearns -- a prominent chronicler of gay life and AIDS -- comes up with inventive characterizations and vivid wordplay. But “complications” feels unfinished, with at times heavy-handed plotting and a too-abrupt ending. Nevertheless, the piece exposes a vicious cycle and challenges America to break out of it.

-- D.H.M.

“complications,” Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica. Sunday and Dec. 1, 4 p.m. $15. (310) 315-1459. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes.

*

Snaring Dodgers: A plodding tale

History doesn’t exactly leap off the page in Greg Suddeth’s “Bums Luck,” which is too bad, since the events he chronicles are of enduring interest.

Looking back to the late 1950s, Suddeth tries to recapture the spirit of a still-provincial Los Angeles that is eager to prove itself a world-class city. A major league baseball team would go a long way toward cementing that reputation, and Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley is willing to be wooed. The at-times hard-hitting game required to bring his team west is the topic of this world premiere presentation by Blue Sphere Alliance at the Lex Theatre.

The starting lineup includes several names that still resonate throughout the city. Mayor Norris Poulson (Tim Ryan) is portrayed here as a blustery sort who can barely sit still when he gets agitated -- and as roadblocks are thrown in his way, he gets agitated a lot. Supervisor Kenneth Hahn (Christian Lyon), on the other hand, works tirelessly and good-naturedly on the deal, then wrestles mightily with his conscience when he realizes that building a stadium in Chavez Ravine will mean evicting the families who live there.

Working shoulder to shoulder with them is City Councilwoman Roz Wyman (a coolly elegant, commanding Leigh Kelly), who has earned a place at the table in a ‘50s America that still doesn’t take women seriously.

O’Malley, alas, comes across as a standard-issue fat cat, in a halting performance by Earl Carroll. A still bigger problem is that the history Suddeth recounts is, essentially, a grinding of government gears: City Council votes, citywide referendums and endless politicking. He hasn’t found a way to make that dynamic. Serving as his own director, Suddeth further saps energy by leaving too much dead time between the many short scenes.

It’s back to training camp for this show, in hopes it can emerge stronger in some future season.

-- D.H.M.

“Bums Luck,” Lex Theatre, 6760 Lexington Ave., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Dec. 21. $15. (323) 957-5782. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.

*

Lessons buried in ‘American Tract’

While in search of a better life for herself and her children, the central character in “An American Tract” almost loses touch with the one she already has.

Worthy lessons are buried deep in Barbara White Morgan’s play, first presented in 1988, about an African American family’s move into an exclusive white neighborhood. But these points are rather difficult to extract from the contrived, overstuffed script, which rambles on still longer in a slackly paced revival by Towne Street Theatre at the Raven Playhouse.

Single mother Anne Jackson (Teressa Taylor), a convalescent caregiver, can’t believe her good fortune when she inherits the home from a deceased patient. Her older boy (Jarreau James) has already slipped into gangs, and the younger one (Christopher Richardson) is at a vulnerable age. She believes they’ll thrive away from the inner city, but their conformity-minded suburb presents a new set of challenges.

A bit too coincidentally, the Jacksons find themselves sandwiched between a family of social liberals (Darrell Phillip, Amy Hayes, Melinda Lively and Alex Sanders) and a sourpuss who barely bothers to conceal his bigotry (Ken Zavayna). The resulting interactions must fight for focus with too many ancillary plotlines.

Roy Fegan’s staging strands the actors in awkward groupings, and the performances are wildly uneven. Fortunately, Taylor’s performance as the mother grounds the production in genuine emotion, while Richardson as the younger son and Lively as the oh, so chipper neighbor girl provide much-needed laughs.

-- D.H.M.

“An American Tract,” Raven Playhouse, 5233 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends Dec. 15. $16. (213) 624-4796. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.