The premise behind this elaborate production is simple: make up a musical/pageant/spectacle , where all props and costumes must be made from items found at the 99cents Only Stores. An annual event, the past four shows have seen musical variety shows, feuding tribes of puppeteers, a 99cents Only village, and last year's dinner theater set in Wyoming. If you grew up with any exposure to Lawrence Welk, this year's show is a familiar premise: the pageant of the four seasons. Ushured in by a glorious Mother Nature, Summer through Spring follows a young man and lady through four show stopping numbers. Writer/Director/Choreographer Ken Roht has an interest in minimalist opera and sought to grow as an artist with more abstract collage work. What occurs each second on stage is not just collages of technicolor plastics but a series of gorgeous tableaus where the Trash Heap from Fraggle Rock would be jealous. With at least a dozen dancers on stage at all times, producer Jessica Hanna assures this is not the largest cast in the 99 cents show's history but by far this year boasts the most donations. (99cents Only lets the company have free reign on their warehouse and all designers are encouraged to keep buying as the budget allows). Familiar household objects pop out of plastic palm tress, like rainbow feather dusters and loofahs. Laundry baskets double as giant flowers. Christmas tinsel dresses the dancers' hula skirts. In fact the only thing not originating from the 99cents store would be the performers' leotards and sneakers, a minimalist white which makes everyone on stage deranged mimes. Each season anticipates a giant song and dance number and every actors' physical abilities are top-notch. In L.A. we get a nod to the plight of the out of work triple-threat, when the actor under the Lizard-Elvis makeup from the summertime Hawaiian under-the-sea showstopper flashes his headshot and phone number on the back wall. The screen on the back wall is another layer to the mayhem morphing like a giant screensaver to fit the mood of each season. Fall brings a modern ballet, while Winter is not the predictable Nutcracker snowflake suite, but a sparse meditation where the white of snow is no longer associated with purity but creates cold. This is the moment in the 50 minute show where one can rest from the sensory overload and actually appreciate the artistry by every cast member. Spring, of course, comes to full bloom and re-awakening but with a folk music soundtrack. Did I mention every bit is original music and lyrics? The arrangement is wonderful if not lost in the bootleg theater's sound limitations. Fans of past shows and lovers of all things Americana-kitsch will find a home here and maybe think twice when buying their next cheap toilet brush.

The pageant has been extended but will close Jan. 28th.

The 99 cents Only Modern Something presents
Pageant of the 4 Seasons
Thurs-Sat 8:00pm
Sun 7:00pm

Bootleg Theater
2220 Beverly Blvd.
Echo Park
(213) 389-3856

Labels: performances, reviews