Nothing Bad – A Werewolf Rock Musical

Hollywood Fringe Festival 2017 imageBy Ernest Kearney —  Nothing Bad – A Werewolf Rock Musical has spun the 1987 vampire film, The Lost Boys by way of the 1971 musical hit Grease, and for the first ten minutes seems to be making a success of it with composer and lyricist Daniel Sugimoto who provides some spiffy tunes that go towards generating the toe tapping bliss that every audience craves.

Unfortunately, the book by Erik Blair unravels rapidly, fumbling over the inclusion of questionable devices and an unfiltered conflict and that’s only the beginning of their woes.

The cast is uneven, and a number of the performers had their voices buried beneath the undulating and patchy rise and fall of the pre-recorded orchestration.  Compounding the troubles, the production pacing withers under both the unfocused narrative and deadly slow unnecessary attempts at scene shifting, accompanied by egregious back stage mumblings and shufflings that smother the limited potential the show possesses.  Again, these flaws must be laid at Blair’s feet; who dons the director’s hat as well.

Lyndsey Wegner as the mayor of Perfection, California “Where nothing bad ever happens” has some good moments, as does Lexi Eiserman in the role of her doomed, poodle-skirted daughter.  Renee Wylder succeeds in shining briefly bronze ribbon - Fringe Festivalbefore sinking beneath the problematic and troubled seas of this production.

Jake Saenz is the show’s only “Ishmael” who not only keeps his head above the rising waves but earns the audience’s appreciation for providing it with the most entertaining moments of the whole staging.

Mainly for Saenz’s performance, this one dodges the Ear Wax bullet to take a BRONZE MEDAL.

♦    ♦    ♦

Nothing Bad – A Werewolf Rock Musical

Playing During Fringe 2017 at

studio/stage
520 N. Western Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90004

Remaining Shows: 

Saturday June 24 2017, 9:30 pm

for Tickets and Additional Information:

hff17.com/4168


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Written by

An award-winning L.A. playwright and rabble-rouser of note who has hoisted glasses with Orson Welles, been arrested on three continents and once beat up Charlie Manson. His first play, "Among the Vipers" was a semi-finalist in the Julie Harris Playwriting Competition and was featured in the Carnegie-Mellon Showcase of New Plays. It was produced at the NPT Theater in Ashland, Oregon and Los Angeles’ celebrated Odyssey Ensemble Theatre. His following play, “The Little Boy Who Loved Monsters” was produced at The Hollywood Actors Theater, where he earned praise from the Los Angeles Times for his “…inordinately creative writing.” The play went on to numerous other productions including Berlin’s The Black Theatre under the direction of Rainer Fassbinder who wrote in his program notes of Kearney, “He is a skilled playwright, but more importantly he is a dangerous one.” Ernest Kearney has worked as literary manager or as dramaturge for among others The Hudson Theater Guild, Nova Diem and the Odyssey Ensemble Theatre, where he still serves on the play selection committee. He has been the recipient of two Dramalogue Awards and a finalist or semi-finalist, three times, in the Julie Harris Playwriting Competition. His work has been performed by Michael Dunn, Sandra Tsing Loh, Jack Colvin and Billy Bob Thornton, and to date, either as playwright or director, he has upwards of a hundred and thirty productions under his belt, including a few at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater as puppeteer. Kearney remains focused on his writing, as well as living happily ever after with his lovely wife Marlene. His stage reviews and social essays can be found at TheTVolution.com and workingauthor.com. Follow him on Facebook.

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