A hilarious and charming mash up of 1960s slasher and beach movies, Psycho Beach Party” by Charles Busch will be presented by THEATREWORKS Oct. 23-Nov. 9 in the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater.
Show times are 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 4 p.m. on Sunday and 2 p.m. Saturday matinees. UCCS faculty and staff members can get tickets for $10 – a $25 discount — by entering UCCS in the promotional code box at www.theatreworkscs.org/tickets.html. This discount is valid online only.
To complement the production of “Psycho Beach Party,” THEATREWORKS is also presenting Charles Busch: Hit the Lights, the playwright’s critically acclaimed drag cabaret on Oct. 27 and 28 in the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater. Busch is widely recognized as the grande dame of New York and Hollywood drag. His act will be full of warmth, heat, radiant saucy charm and classic lounge songs.
Psycho Beach Party tantalizes viewers with a mystery surrounding some spooky stuff afoot on the sands. People are getting knocked out and waking up to find their bodies have been shaved. Who is the demon barber of Malibu? Could it be one of the hunky surfer guys shooting the curl? Yo-Yo, Star Cat or Provoloney? What about the great Kanaka, who once rode the giant wave at Bali in handcuffs? Could it be that stuck-up girl who snares all the boys or the glamorous – movie star who’s new to the beach? Or might it be the nerdy bookworm always quoting Sartre and existential philosophy? Surely it couldn’t be little Chicklet, the pint sized tomboy who thinks about nothing except learning to surf? Yet there is something odd about that girl. For one thing she seems to have some pretty weird multiple personalities, and for another she’s being played by a boy.
The production, directed by Kevin Landis, assistant professor, Department of Visual and Performing Arts, promises bright colors, eye candy and genuine charm. The young and talented cast includes Doug Atkins, New York City, as the adorable and flat-chested Chicklet; Jordan Matthews, Chicago, as the surfer god; Kate Berry, Creede, as Chicklet’s scary mom.
Local talent includes stud muffins Dastan Harrison, Zach Baliey, Alex Niforatis and Bryan Defaud, Nietzsche-quoting Bethany Talley, the drop dead gorgeous Anna Faye Hunter, the dancing Chloe Kiskiris, and Jessica Parnello as a legendary B-movie actress. Alex Ruhlin provides the sounds of summer and surf, Vance Mackenzie turns on the sun and moon, Amy Haines suits up the actors, Tiffany Tinsley-Weeks has all the dance moves, and Jonathan Wentz creates the beach and the love shack.
— Caitlin Green, Theatreworks
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