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Book & Lyrics By Bill Fagan and Jeff Scott
Music By Jeff Scott
"...a gem of a musical..."
- Accessibly Live

"...a clever idea for a genre spoof..."
- Backstage West

"...had me wanting to jump up and shake my
groove thing right from the energetic opening number..."
- Musicals By Melanie

" I WAS A TEENAGE HOME"
ACCESSIBLY LIVE OFF-LINE (online review)
Sunday Sept. 9, 2007

      Theatre Neo presents the world premiere of I WAS A TEENAGE HOMO, a musical of a young man's transformation of a "straight A" high school student, and the community that experiences this unique change, currently performing at North Hollywood's Secret Rose Theatre.

     In the town of Straightville, USA, it's 1978 and disco is all of the rage! Young Rock Dale (Tripp Pickell) is your average looking teen-age kid. He lives with his widowed mom Florence (Marcy Goldman) and has a girlfriend, Donna Winters (Alexander Raines). But Rock has an attitude problem at his school, Straightville High, picking rough and tumble fights with the boys. His school principal suggests that he goes though some testing with Dr. Rorschach (Michael Merton), that can make this boy rather different. He does become different to the point where this doctor turns this boy into a teenage homosexual! Meanwhile, the local sheriff Officer Ponch (James Knudsen) and his assistant, Deputy Judy (Wendy Worthington) receives word that there is somebody different within their midst, so they investigate this matter. Is this good doctor really an evil one, shaping Rock into some sort of creature that is more of (or for) a man? What will the kids at Straightville High do? Will Rock become normal? What will Donna think? Will living like a homo be like disco and last forever??

     This musical, with book and lyrics by Bill Fagan & Jeff Scott with music by Scott, is very witty! It takes the premise of a 1950's era "B" horror movie and transplants it into the late 1970's when the glam of disco was at its peak! The songs are very lively, the plotting is overly humorous, and the choreography by Christine Krench takes those once stylish dance moves of the 70's and sends them into a campy throwback of something that's now hip no more! That's what makes this musical extremely fun! It take something rather serious and turns it into a "horror" that can be scary (coming out), but really isn't!

     The rest of the ensemble cast consists of (in alphabetical order ), Thomas Crawford, David Garry, Caerley Hill, Christine Krench, Michael Miranda, and Rita Renee.

     Directed by Mary McGuire, I WAS A TEENAGE HOMO is a gem of a musical! It was years in the creating, with playwrights Fagan and Scott collaborating on the book and music for months at a time via LA and Texas. Sadly, Bill Fagan passed away in early 2005, making this work his final. Nevertheless, this musical is very upbeat and gay (No pun intended!) And the burning question for the moment; is it really scary? Well, if one remembers disco, then there is a reason to be afraid--very afraid!!!

I WAS A TEENAGE HOMO presented by Theatre Neo and performs at The Secret Rose Theatre, 11246 Magnolia Blvd, North Hollywood, until October 13th. Show times are Friday and Saturday nights @ 8:00 PM, and Sunday afternoons @ 2:00 PM. Reservations, call (323) 769-5858. Visit the web site at http://www.TheatreNeo.com

Reviewed By ACCESSIBLY LIVE OFF-LINE
(Vol. 12-No. 37-Week of September 10th, 2007)
http://www.westworld.com/~lcp/ALOL.html

"I WAS A TEENAGE HOME"
MUSICALS BY MELANIE (online review)
Friday Sept. 14, 2007

I have to admit going into the theatre, I've never seen the movie "I Was A Teenage Werewolf" (which this show reports to be an homage to), nor am I a gay man (though I did frequent gay bars for dance partners back in the 80's), so I wasn't to sure what to expect. "Rocky Horror" meets "Reefer Madness"? "Grease" meets "Plan 9 From Outer Space"?

But Theatre Neo's world premiere of "I WAS A TEENAGE HOMO! A Scary Fairy Tale", by Bill Fagan & Jeff Scott, as directed by Mary McGuire, had me wanting to jump up and shake my groove thing right from the energetic opening number, disco lighting and all.

For those of us less familiar with the source material, here's a brief recap: I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957) was Michael Landon's first movie, and told the story of a troubled high-school bully who's turned into a werewolf by the town mad scientist...ripe material for parody indeed.

Updated to the year 1978, the height of disco and all things polyester, we meet Rock Dale (the dashing Tripp Pickell), and his girlfriend Donna Winters (beautifully sung by Alexandra Raines). To everyone in Straightville USA they appear like the perfect high-school couple, but all's not swell in Straightville. Rock likes to fight, a lot, especially with other boys, leaving little make-out time for Donna.

After numerous fights, the town law (humorously confused James Knudsen and the always delightful Wendy Worthington) insists Rock see Dr. Merv Rorschach (wonderfully over-the-top Michael Merton) for anger therapy. Aided by his lover Nurse Treacher (sweetly played by Thomas Crawford), they soon realize the source of Rock's anger is his latent homosexuality. Through hypnotherapy, and some bizarre electric jockstrap they make Rock wear, they set out to make his "coming-out" process much easier than it was for them.

But things take an unexpected turn when the town is bombarded by a series of attacks (we call this re-gentrification here in Los Angeles), leading the local police to believe they have a serial stylist loose, and hell-bent on redecoration their entire town.

The other texted book (pun intended) high school students are: Jack Kough, the jock (rubber- faced Michael Miranda) and his demanding girlfriend Janet Gaynor (leggy Caerly Hill), Gilbert Brubaker, a science nerd (lovable David Garry) and dimwitted Chrissy Van Patten (the hilarious Christine Krench, also doubling here as the shows inspired Choreographer).

The rest of Straightville is populated by; Rock's mother, Florence Dale (sugary-sweet Marcy Goldman), and Donna's gender-confused parents Jonathan and Shelly Winters (also played by Crawford, and Rita Renee).

What Theatre Neo lacks in vocal talent (none of the cast here has professional singing experience), they certainly make up for in their exuberance for the material. They flow, and sometimes rollerskate through the sixteen numbers (vintage canned-tracks also arranged by Scott), with such glee that you can't help but catch their disco-fever.

Director McGuire mines every gay cliché' available, and producers Karla Karanza, David Cheaney & David St. James smartly spent a lot of their budget on Max Piersons spot-on computerized lighting design and Tina Zarros delightfully tacky costumes (I think they raided my high school closet).

While there's never a heavy-handed message, there certainly is a lesson to be learned from this kitchy little musical..acceptance of one's self and others should be a universal rule to live by. Throw in a dose of gay rights history, references to other 1950's B-movies, and the aforementioned disco lifestyle, and I left the intimate Secret Rose Theater (in The NoHo Arts District) wanting to shake my groove thing all over again.

- Melanie Cola-Shepard "Melanie On Musicals.com"
http://www.musicalsbymelanie.com/