DOGFIGHT

USC freshman Lily Castle is pure perfection opposite sophomore Terry Mullany in young River Phoenix mode in Dogfight, the Louise Lortel Award-winning Outstanding Musical of 2012 and the latest example of Musical Theatre Repertory at its student-directed, student-performed, student-designed best.

Movie buffs will recall Dogfight as the 1991 sleeper that starred a then 20-year-old Phoenix as Vietnam-bound Marine Eddie Birdlace and a 24-year-old Lili Taylor as a Plain Jane San Francisco waitress named Rose Fenny, the unwitting victim of a cruel joke perpetrated by Eddie and his jarhead buddies on the eve of their departure for Southeast Asia circa 1963.

It may seem to Eddie (Mullany) like a harmless rite of passage to invite a clueless Rose (Castle) to the musical’s titular “dogfight” in hopes of pocketing several hundred bucks for finding the ugliest girl in town, the winner to be determined at a “competition” held in a local bar.

For Rose, however, it’s an outwardly nondescript girl’s dream come true, and it is Eddie’s gradual realization that the “dog” he’s picked is a living, breathing, emotion-feeling human being (and just maybe one who will touch his own soon-to-be-tested soul) that gives Dogfight its emotional punch.

Peter Duchan’s Outer Critics Circle Award-nominated book sticks close to Bob Comfort’s screenplay, while jettisoning the movie’s Kennedy Assassination Eve-specific time frame and bookending the musical with scenes of Eddie bussing back to San Francisco in 1967.

Still, it’s Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s memorable collection of pre-Dear Evan Hansen songs (the catchy-as-all-get-out “Hey, Good-Lookin’” and “Come To A Party,” the uber-romantic ‘60s-style “That Face,” the show-stopping “Dogfight,” the downright exquisite “Nothing Short Of Wonderful,” and the heartbreaking “Pretty Funny” among them) that give the musical its emotional heart and punch.

With all but a handful of its characters pretty much the same age as its student cast, Dogfight is both an ideal show for a college/university to undertake and a tricky one as well, requiring its mostly male ensemble to not only sing, dance, and act but pass for recent Marine recruits, necessitating quick scene changes from locale to locale to locale, and most importantly, demanding of its lead actress someone who can convey all of Rose’s hopes, fears, doubts, disappointments, and dreams, along with the kind of beauty that isn’t all that obvious at first glance, but once you see it, it could light up a room.

Lily Castle is precisely this actress, and as she demonstrated in last fall’s 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Castle has the kind of voice that can fill you with joy and awe (as in “Something Wonderful”) and then break your heart, as her “Pretty Funny” most definitely does.

Opposite her, Mullany gives boy-next-door charmer Eddie just enough darkness and edge to make him a worthy if unlikely match for the ocean’s-deep Rose, and when Mullany launches into the eleventh-hour “Come Back,” expect cheers and chills.

Chief among Eddie’s fellow jarheads, David Shadman’s cocky Boland and Daniel Murphy’s eager-to-be devirginized Bernstein do quite splendidly in the triple-threat department as do Alex Oliva’s Stevens, Sunny Malhotra’s Fector, and Sebastian Rabassa’s Gibbs, whether harmonizing under Katie Kivinski’s expert musical direction or executing Zach Manske’s macho choreographic moves. (The grown-up National Tour Billy Elliot scores too for some comedic slow dancing and snappy Broadway moves in “Hey Good Lookin’.”)

Taylor Kass stands out among the supporting women as the proverbial hooker with a heart of (well maybe not exactly of) gold, and some sensational pipes when singing the hell out of the title song, and Piper Kingston (Mama and others) and Alejandra Villanueva (Ruth Two Bears and others) are terrific too.

Finally, Sam Guillemette scores not only in silver-throated Lounge Singer mode but as an understanding Greyhound Bus passenger, a baritone blonde, and a snooty-turned-sweet waiter.

Director/USC junior Austin Karkowsky has not only helped shape the aforementioned topnotch performances but his imaginative staging reveals considerable visual flair on Jordan Fox’s multi-level set, an inspired design that not only manages to make the most of a shoestring budget (cleverly hiding furniture under its two wall-long ramps) but proves a consistent reminder that we’re in the world’s hilliest big city by the bay.

Natalie Mesqueira’s early 1960s-meet-U.S. Marines costumes and Damaris Eddy’s props (from tableware to rifles) merit their own cheers as do Edward Hansen’s vivid lighting and Joy Cheever’s ambience-establishing sound design, the latter two designers joining forces with Karkowsky and Manske for a Vietnam combat sequence that’s a visual/audio stunner.

Last but not least, Kivinski conducts Dogfight’s pro-caliber orchestra* like a pro.

Tata Vivas is assistant director, Nick Kassoy is assistant musical director, and Erica Ammerman is assistant choreographer.

Dogfight is produced by Tyler Joseph Ellis and Sarah Campbell. Domenica Diaz is production stage manager and Beth Yeo is assistant stage manager. Fox is technical director.

Since I first discovered Musical Theatre Repertory twelve years ago (how time flies!), this 100%-student-run gem in the USC School Of Dramatic Arts crown has been  on my twice-yearly must-see list.

MTR may bill itself as “innovative musical theatre, for students, by students,” but only the first and last parts are true. As Dogfight once again demonstrates, Musical Theatre Repertory At USC is innovative musical theater for everyone.

*Randon Davitt, Noah Eller, Faiz Haque, Kivinski, Harrison Newton, and Matias Poachalian

Massman Theatre at USC.
www.uscmtr.com

–Steven Stanley
January 23, 2020
Photos: Jordan Fox

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