Lagunatics is still here to make locals laugh for Laguna’s sake
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Laguna Beach residents often bandy about ideas to preserve the town’s cultural heritage, and while few agree on how best to go about that, Lagunatics has done its part.
What’s more characteristic to a small town than gossip? Since 1992, Lagunatics has strived to make light of the issues that the coastal community can’t stop talking about.
Bree Burgess Rosen, the founding artistic director of No Square Theatre, has long described Lagunatics as recess for adults, referring to it as a production steeped in silliness that shies away from mean-spiritedness.
“We all need a break, and we all need to go out and run in the yard and be silly and loud and laugh out loud,” Burgess Rosen said.
Everything about Lagunatics is an up-close-and-personal experience, from its intimate venue — the American Legion Post 222 building at 384 Legion Street — to its highly irregular photo policy. Pictures can be taken during a performance of live theater? “Only if they’re flattering,” are the guidelines offered in the introduction.
Going to a show is like taking your first step into a smaller world. Most who attend this show have some familiarity with the subject matter. They’re bound to see friends, and in some cases, they might see themselves portrayed on stage.
Lagunatics 2025 Tour de Farce is no exception. Toni Iseman, who served six terms on the City Council, was in the audience on Saturday night. The former mayor saw two likenesses of herself on stage — played by Burgess Rosen and Martina Sanchez — in a number called “Two Terms,” referencing a petition being circulated to limit council members to two consecutive, four-year terms.
“I don’t want to think of a time when Lagunatics isn’t in town,” said Iseman, who added she marvels at the cleverness employed to make the topics fun. “I look forward to it, and I think that the silliness is a toast to our town.”
Burgess Rosen explained she has spent her fair share of time attending council meetings, and between that and reading the local press, much of the material for the next show presents itself. That’s how chainsaw-wielding goats (playing off of mechanical fuel modification methods the town uses), a fire-versus-water ballet, and plastic-bottled headdresses came to be in the current production.
For about two decades, Chris Quilter has embedded his own brand of humor into the show. Quilter, who was joined by Bridget English, Rebecca Lyles, Rufino Cabang and Burgess Rosen in writing the parody lyrics, also provided the narration, taking some lighthearted liberties with the material, notably a made-up statistic about the community’s appetite for affordable housing.
“The thing that is true about this town is that there isn’t a lot of interest in affordable housing, except there’s a lot of lip service,” Quilter said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people preface their opposition to the Neighborhood Congregational Church project by saying, ‘I support affordable housing.’
“Well, there’s a famous headline from The Onion, the satirical newspaper, ‘98 Percent of [U.S. commuters favor] public transportation for others,’ so I just grabbed that as an inspiration and made up that wonderful statistic that 95% of the Laguna Beach locals support affordable housing somewhere else in town.”
The bit is even accompanied by a recurring character, as “affordable housing” is ostracized and has trouble fitting in throughout the musical parody.
Roxanna Ward, the pianist and music director for Lagunatics, noted that Saturday Night Live is often being written up to the last minute to bring its audience the latest. Lagunatics endeavors to bring the community timely, and timeless, parody content, picking up several happenings of recent memory and backed by recognizable tunes.
Mack Rice’s “Mustang Sally” is used for a number on the “No Kings” rally, Harold Arlen’s “If I Only Had a Brain” for a commentary on the exchange of ideas between community members and the City Council, and much more.
Ward played piano at a gay bar called the Little Shrimp until its closure in 1995. Laguna Beach’s gay bar scene changed, but Ward’s solo, “I’m Still Queer,” set to Stephen Sondheim’s “I’m Still Here,” was a defiant performance.
“I think it’s really expensive to live here, and you don’t have a place,” Ward said with respect to the gay community. “You would have to go to Long Beach, or you would have to go to West Hollywood or Palm Springs. There’s not a place to hang out, and that is why I said I want to sing, ‘I’m Still Queer,’ as a joke, because it’s like, no matter how [the town] changes, I’m still who I am.”
Lagunatics will run Friday through Sunday until Oct. 19. For tickets, visit nosquare.org.
