International City Theatre’s 35th season gets off to a nostalgically tuneful, breezily comedic start with The Andrews Brothers, Roger Bean’s seniors-targeted journey back to the 1940s, engagingly directed and choreographed for ICT by Jamie Torcellini..

This doesn’t mean you have to be seventy-plus to find yourself entertained by Roger Bean’s slapstick tale of three 4F stagehands who end up taking over for a trio of ailing Andrews Sisters at a WWII USO concert somewhere in the South Pacific circa 1945.

Marvelous Wonderettes creator Bean’s wispiest wisp of a book serves mostly as an excuse for a quartet of triple-threats to perform a couple dozen well-(and lesser)-known tunes interspersed with some Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road To-style jokes.

Eldest Andrews brother Patrick (Max DeLoach) is a stutterer plagued with panic attacks and asthma, middle sibling Max (Grant Hodges) is a flat-footed klutz, youngest bro Lawrence (Michael D’Elia) is nearly blind without his glasses, and all three hermanos share the dream of becoming entertainers like USO songstress/pinup girl Peggy Jones (Kelley Dorney), set to co-headline tonight’s show with Patty, Maxine, and Laverne.

Disaster threatens when word arrives that a case of chicken pox has gotten all three Andrews Sisters quarantined, that is until inspiration strikes.

What if the conveniently named Patrick were to go on as Patty, Max as Maxine, and Lawrence as Laverne?

Let the drag festivities begin!

Jokes come fast and furious along the way. (When Peggy inquires about the boys’ experience as entertainers, they reply, “We’ve performed here, there … mostly there.” Peggy is reputed to have “the chassis that made Lassie Come Home.” And just before the end of Act 1, when the boys are told that they’re going to have to don dresses and pretend to be the ailing Andrews girls, Peggy reassures them, “The men need this show. And they’ll be far, far away.”)

And then there are the sight gags, many of them centered around a trio of men with little or no idea of how to pass as women. (Patrick can’t remember to keep his legs together when seated, and Max somehow ends up upside down revealing his not so girlish boxer shorts.)

Though only a handful of The Andrews Brothers songs (“Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Mairzy Doats,” and “On A Slow Boat To China” among them) have survived the test of time, that doesn’t mean the musical’s forgotten gems aren’t worth (re)discovering, chief among them Eddie Cherkose and Jacques Press’s “Breathless,” a song written specifically to leave its singers breathless.

Another winner is “Six Jerks In A Jeep,” featuring not only Peggy and the “Sisters” but a couple of audience members as well, one of the them at the wheel and the second in charge of the “beep beep” horn. (Kudos to Dorney for some inspired opening-night ad libs.)

As for political correctness, throw all that aside (this being the 1940s after all) as the quartet pays “tribute” to our neighbors south of the border in “Cúanto Le Gusta” and to Hawaiian islanders in “Hawaiian War Chant” and “Hula Ba Luau.”

DeLoach’s st-st-stammering Patrick, Hodges’ arch-deprived Max, and D’Elia’s bespectacled Lawrence are all three triple-threats par excellence both in and out of feminine garb.

As for Dorney, it’s hard to imagine anyone more perfect to play Peggy in all her sass, fire, and charm, and like the boys, the divine Dorney shows off the most powerful of pipes.

As choreographer, Torcellini has his triple-threat quartet performing delightful dance number after another, with special snaps to the aforementioned “Hawaiian War Chant,” performed with grass skirts round the boys’ hips, drums round their waists, and flowered headdresses atop their heads.

Musical director Brent Crayon not only elicits razor-sharp three-and-four-part harmonies, he and fellow musicians Emiliano Almeida, Dana Decker, and Tate Herrmann provide a mini-big-band sound throughout, with Dave Mickey delivering a crystal-clear sound design mix..

Kim DeShazo’s fabulous WWII-era costumes range from Hawaiian shirts to military gear to padded-shoulders, knee-length skirts, and heels, with additional snaps to Anthony Gagliardi’s ‘40s-perfect wigs and Patty and Gordon Briles’ WWII-era props, and all of the above look even better with Crystal R. Shomph’s vibrant lighting shining down on Todd Faux’s South Pacific-ready set.

The Andrews Brothers is produced by caryn desai. Donna R. Parsons is production stage manager and Jessica Kilgore is assistant stage manager. Michelle Tharp is assistant sound designer. Casting is by Michael Donovan, CSA. Richie Ferris, CSA, is casting associate.

The ideal show for anyone born pre-1950 and performed by a quartet of uber-talented millennials, The Andrews Brothers adds up to a trip down memory lane nostalgia fans might want to take.

Beverly O’Neill Theater at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, 300 E. Seaside Way., Long Beach.
www.InternationalCityTheatre.org

–Steven Stanley
February 21, 2020
Photos: Tracey Roman

Tags: International City Theatre, Los Angeles Theater Review, Roger Bean