By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
The six "Pageant" contestants line up for another number.
Old stuff, but well done
By John Berger
Special to the Star-Bulletin
Pageant: At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday through Sept. 20, Manoa Valley Theatre; tickets $25; call 988-6131.
THERE'S good news and bad news about Manoa Valley Theatre's season opening production of "Pageant." The bad news is that there are no new ideas in this broad comic look at American beauty contests and scholarship pageants. The pageant scene has been satirized, parodied and shredded from top to bottom for years. The spectacle of men dressing as women has been done to death by guys as diverse as Frank DeLima, Tony Curtis, Wesley Snipes, the Society of Seven and Milton Berle. It's been seen in contexts as varied as "M. Butterfly," "Paris Is Burning," and "Wigstock."
We've seen all of this before.
The good news is that MVT's six cross-dressing actors outshine the material they're working with. Director/choreographer Andrew Sakaguchi has assembled a talented team. There are six phenomenal performances.
Sakaguchi (Miss Texas) delivers a showstopper with his explosive solo dance number. Alan Gelfius (Miss Deep South) stars in a "so bad it's funny" sketch involving hand puppets and antebellum Southern standards. Jerry O. Parker (Miss Bible Belt) steals the show and rocks the house with a gospel number couched in financial terms.
They share the stage with James Chang (Miss West Coast), Kevin Yamada (Miss Great Plains) and Michael Pa'ekukui (Miss Industrial Northeast).
The six are regional finalists in the Miss Glamouresse 1998 Pageant. They go through the evening gown and talent segments, vapid interviews and lame production numbers typical of such events, display their fitness, tout such Miss Glamouresse products as face spackle and feminine deodorant jewelry, and field calls on a beauty crisis hot line.
John Meola Lindhorst adds a likable goofy charm as the master of ceremonies.
The obvious loser (Pa'ekukui) gets the "Girl Friend Award" and is then cruelly pushed aside as the others go on to the finals. Pa'ekukui returns in a new role as the previous year's winner. Miss Glamouresse 1997 is camped up as an abrasive parody of Karen Keawehawai'i leavened with hints of Frank DeLima as Tita Turner and Greg Hammer in drag. Pa'ekukui takes it so far over the top that he overstays his welcome.
Five members of the audience are enlisted to select the winner. Gelfius/Miss Deep South burst into tears and Parker/Miss Bible Belt sulked hilariously when Sakaguchi/Miss Texas won last night. The interplay wrapped things up on a high note.
Musical director Melina Lillios gives the performers solid support. Ronald Perry, set design, and Alexander Torres, costume design, add to the ambience with appropriately garish costumes and ticky-tacky sets. Expect "Pageant" to be a big hit.
John Berger has covered the
local entertainment scene since 1972.
