Justin Tanner’s ’90s-nostalgia-filled autobiographical gem Little Theatre once again showcases the prolific playwright’s gift for out-of-left-field laughs, especially when delivered by a couldn’t-be-better trio of Rogue Machine stars.

Zachary Grant stands in for the playwright as “James Adley,” whose third DUI has gotten the “mostly gay” 25-year-old assigned 160 hours of community service at a 99-seat house run by local legend “Monica Menlo” (Jenny O’Hara), who may be hell to work for but probably knows better than anyone else in town how to produce low budget hits like the nudie-cutie-filled smash Melody Jones.

Ryan Brophy completes the cast as El Centro Theatre managing director Danny, whose recent duties have included snaking the toilet, rewiring the washing machine, finding his boss a brand-new fridge, setting up Monica’s AOL account, and lighting her frequent joints.

James, on the other hand, will be spending most of his time answering the phone, making sure to inform each and every caller that “Ms. Menlo is in a meeting,” no matter if she’s standing right in front of him or sitting on the toilet or out to lunch or home nude in the bathtub.

When a sudden need for a new script with a small cast and a simple set produces not a single winner among the ones Monica’s got lying around the office, James proposes his own original opus, Barbie And Ken At Home, and wonder of wonders Monica loves it so much that next thing you know, the show is in previews.

That’s when Monica first reveals her gifts as a script doctor, suggesting a couple of minor changes that work wonders on Opening Night, and though Sylvie, the “horse-cunt critic” for the L.A. Times ends up panning the show, James can’t help but admit that Monica’s “super annoying” notes, delivered “with all the gentle consideration of a sucker punch to the head,” actually work, and before long he’s turning out hit after hit.

If only Monica didn’t spend virtually all the bucks she’s been raking in on personal items like “fancy aroma therapy, bullshit bath beads, and triple lattes $5 coffees,” leading James to ask himself what he’s doing sticking around the El Centro where he’s clearly not appreciated.

Will our young hero finally stand up to Monica and insist that he be given his due? Will Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment offer James a job writing a script for Amy Heckerling? Will Danny strip off the underpants he’s been wearing these past couple days and hand them over to James as a means of inspiring him to finish his latest script?

For the answer to these and other questions, you’ll just have to head on over to the Matrix Theatre, where director Lisa James has elicited three delicious star turns from actors playing characters whose real names (Justin Tanner, Diana Gibson, and Andy Daley) have been changed to protect the not so innocent (but not the titles of the hits the three of them collaborated on: Teen Girl, Pot Mom, and Zombie Attack among them).

Though an intermission inserted midway through a 90-minute plays seems unnecessary, and though I wish Tanner had made it a tad clearer just how significant a role the otherwise problematic Monica had in fine-tuning James’s scripts, I can’t complain a whit about how all-fired fabulous Brophy, Grant, and O’Hara are in the roles he’s written for them, in particular the grown-up enfant terrible that the magnificent O’Hara brings to larger-than-life life.

John Iacovelli’s terrific wide-screen set has been meticulously cluttered by properties designer Shen Heckel and impeccably lit by Vickie J. Scott. (I advise sitting near the office where most of the action takes place.)

Christopher Moscatiello once again earns top marks for a sound design that mixes realistic effects with just-right music choices, and though Halei Parker has designed essentially one outfit per character, they suit each of them to a T.

Vanessa Hanish is assistant director. Mark Mendelson is assistant scenic designer. Danyelle Van der Stratton is scenic painter Yehuda Duenyas is intimacy director.

Little Theatre is produced by Guillermo Cienfuegos. Casting is by Victoria Hoffman. Jennifer Palumbo is stage manager. Rachel Manheimer is production manager.

A refreshingly light-hearted follow-up to the dramatic fireworks of Rogue Machine’s recent A Great Wilderness and The Beautiful People, and one that will strike a chord with anyone who’s ever done intimate theater in L.A., Justin Tanner’s Little Theatre is precisely what Santa ordered for anyone seeking an acerbic alternative to December’s holiday-spirited fare.

Rogue Machine at the Matrix, 7657 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles.
www.roguemachinetheatre.com

–Steven Stanley
December 17, 2022
Photos: Jeff Lorch

Tags: Justin Tanner, Los Angeles Theater Review, Matrix Theatre, Rogue Machine Theatre