Start spreading the news. The Troubadour Theater Company is back, live and in person at the Getty Villa, mashing up the ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata with the Troubies’ trademark blend of zany jokes, inspired adlibs (impromptu or scripted, you be the judge), snappy dance moves, and “the music of Liza Minnelli” in the cleverly redubbed Lizastrata.

Lovers of things theatrical, classical, and Greek will recall Aristophanes’ tale of one woman’s determined mission to end the Peloponnesian War by persuading her fellow females to withhold sexual favors from their husbands and lovers until the menfolk lay down their arms and get back to laying the women of Sparta.

Cloie Wyatt Taylor stars as Malibu’s very own Lizastrata (with a Z), who joins forces with Lampito from Palm Desert (adapter-director Matt Walker), Myrrhine (Rick Batalla), Calonice (L.T. Martinez), Ojai Amy (Suzanne Jolie), Karen from Orange County (Amanda Pajer), Deb of the San Fernando Valley (Jess Coffman), Madge The Librarian (Beth Kennedy), and Sophia of The Golden Girls aka Wilda from Echo Park (Michael Faulkner) as their men wage battle on the Northern Front (Bakersfield) and in the Deep Deep South, aka Huntington Beach,

Unfortunately for the ladies, their task is more easily said than achieved despite Lizastrata’s exhortation that they “stop spreading their shoes” and give the men “No Pork, No Pork” (sung to the tune of “New York, New York,” no matter that it was Frank Sinatra and not Liza who made John Kander/Fred Ebb classic a Top 10 hit).

Indeed, truth be told, it’s not actually “the music of Liza Minelli” being showcased in Lizastrata but Kander & Ebb’s esteemed Broadway oeuvre, much of which was performed by artists other than Liza (“Wilkommen” and “If You Could See Her” by Joel Gray and “Cell Block Tango” by the female inmates of Chicago, a musical Liza only appeared in for a month way back in 1975).

But hey, Lizastrata has a much catchier ring to it than Kander&Ebbstrata, and when the title character chops off her long raven locks (to “Mein Herr,” retitled “My Hair”), it’s Miss Minnelli’s signature bob, so no biggie. (I did keep waiting for some mention of the title character’s iconic mom Judystrata or less famous sister Lornastrata, but to no avail.)

Abundant culture references (Bridgerton, Undercover Boss, Q-Anon) once again guarantee an abundance of laughs, with sexual double entendres galore and a plethora of hilariously rendered prosthetic penises and breasts making Lizastrata the Troubies’ most R-rated spoof to date.

Head honcho Walker not only acts and sings up a storm (and gives Joel Gray’s Emcee some pretty stiff competition), he has once again come up with such surefire laugh-getters as “What if they nag us and won’t leave us alone, like those phone calls we get about our car warranties?” and throw-away “ad-libs” like “What’s that synthesized fanfare?” and “Thank God for a well-timed sound effect.”

And with musical director Ryan Whyman on piano (joined by John Ballinger on guitar, clarinet, banjo, & misc., Nick Stone on percussion, and Dave Wright on banjo), the Kander-Ebb hits are in expert musical hands indeed.

Taylor once again proves herself the fiercest of triple threats in the title role and Troubies treasures Battalla and Kennedy are as divinely outlandish as ever. Coffman, Martinez, and Jolie not only look luscious, as movement coordinators they get the whole bunch “moving” up a storm, with newcomers Faulkner and Pajer giving the veteran Troubies a run for their money in roles both male and female. (Indeed, rarely if every has there been so much gender-bending in a Troubies show.)

And the main cast could hardly pull it off so smoothly without the hard-working “Crewbies,” running crew members Bradley Barnes, James Bane, and assistant director Matt Merchant.

Halei Parker’s wildly imaginative costumes, Jolie’s equally fanciful and fabulous wigs, and Lily Bartenstein’s wonderfully wacky props are the production’s design superstars

Scenic designer Christopher Scott Murillo takes full advantage of the Getty Villa Amphitheater architecture to give Lizastrata an appropriately Ancient Greek look, one vibrantly lit by Bo Tindell.

Lizastrata is produced for the Troubies by Kennedy, Jolie, Mike Sulprizio, Walker, and Erick Weiss. Alyssa Escalante is production stage manager.

It’s been a long, tough twenty-two months since 2019’s A Christmas Carole King played the El Portal, but the nearly two-year wait is finally over. The Troubies are back in business, the Getty Villa’s got’em, and the raunchy laugh-packed Lizastrata makes it well worth the wait.

Additional program credits: Eric Heinly (music supervisor), Daniel Tator and Margaret Koldinger (additional sound), Taylor Decker (costume assistant), Joe Seely (additional phallus designer), Benjamin Rapoport (covid compliance officer), and Corey Womack (deck supervisor)

The Getty Villa, 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades.
www.getty.edu

–Steven Stanley
September 10, 2021
Photos: Craig Schwartz (© 2021 J. Paul Getty Trust)

Tags: Aristophanes, Los Angeles Theater Review, The Troubadour Theater Company, The Troubies