Cute, fun, silly, and too slight to be of any major consequence, Tom Chiodo and Joe Nedder’s Adventures in the Great Beyond serves primarily as a showcase for Nedder’s catchy melodies and the World Premiere musical’s highly talented cast, in particular a charismatic 20something fivesome who reveal Grade-A vocal chops as the devotees of a quirky desert-dwelling New Age guru named Krishamarti.

 Queenie Navarro makes a delightful professional stage debut at 20-year-old Virginia, who instead of re-enrolling in city college has jumped on an interstate bus to escape her controlling single mom by joining the Ashram Of The Great Beyond located smack dab in the middle of the Arizona desert.

Once arrived, she is welcomed by Sam (Michael Deni), Mattie (Katherine Heflin), Luke (Ryan Foreman), and Marcia (Kim Taleas), a quartet of guru disciples who welcome her in four-part harmony to “The Great Beyond,” our first indication of composer Nedder’s gift for writing instantly hummable tunes including the one they then launch into, the bubble-gum catchy “Nirvana.”

 “Firewalk” soon has Virginia proving her worthiness to meet the illusive Krishamarti by walking on a fire pit of burning red coals, not long after which the lovely “Mirror Song” reveals Virginia’s desire to find “the real me,” which just might involve falling for redheaded hottie Sam.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Arizona desert, Virginia’s mother Harriet (Connie Monroe) meets “tour guide, postmaster, friend to the roadrunners, woodpeckers, and vultures” Blu (Connie Jackson), who quickly concocts a plan for Harriet to infiltrate the ashram by disguising herself as a “Holy Lady” arrived to bless the religious retreat.

Further silliness ensues, much of it involving hippy-dippy guru Krishamarti (Steven Wishnoff), though anyone in the audience who doubts a happy ending ahead for all clearly hasn’t seen a feel-good musical before.

Still, entertaining as it is, Adventures In The Great Beyond comes across more like a minor off-off-Broadway musical from the 1960s than something out of the 2020s, and clocking in at less than eighty minutes, it’s both refreshingly short and frustratingly inconsequential compared to the edgier, weightier musicals (think Hadestown, Hamilton, and Hell’s Kitchen) that have taken Broadway by storm in the past decade.

Fortunately for audiences, director Chiodo has been blessed by a comedically and vocally gifted cast who bring out the best in his book and lyrics and in Nedder’s hook-blessed tunes.

Navarro’s Viriginia is likable as all get-out while revealing a lovely pop soprano opposite dynamic SoCal musical favorite Deni’s absolutely winning Sam; Foreman, Heflin, and Taleas make the absolute most of their roles as diehard devotees of Wishnoff’s wacky Krishamarti; and Jackson’s salty Blu and Monroe’s ditzy Harriet complete the cast to engaging effect.

Adventures in the Great Beyond benefits enormously from having a live orchestra instead of prerecorded tracks. (The program credits only guitarist Jacob Abraham and drummer Joe Kattampallil, though I’m guessing it was music director Nedder on keyboards.)

Production designer Bryon Renison keeps things simple (mostly upstage white drapes onto which are projected colorful scene-setting backdrops), Heflin’s costumes are just right for your neighborhood desert ashram, lighting is topnotch, and sound designer Jose Vasquez and audio engineer Josh McClellan provide an expert mix of amped vocals and instrumentals.

Sean Jasko and Krista Unverferth are understudies. Musical numbers have been staged by assistant director Wishnoff. Michelle Vasquez is production stage manager and Blanca Chivichon is assistant stage manager. Travis Plaut is general manager. Orlando de la Paz is scenic painter. Sandra Kuker is publicist.

Though I strongly doubt that Adventures in the Great Beyond has what it takes to move from the Hudson Mainstage to Bigger Things in the Great Beyond, at the very least it offers fun, escapist entertainment in these post-election days.

The Hudson Mainstage, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood.
www.greatbeyondmusical.com

–Steven Stanley
November 9, 2024
Photos: Joshua Shelton

Tags: Hudson Mainstage Theatre, Joe Nedder, Los Angeles Theater Review, Tom Chiodo