Review: ‘Gothmas’ at Eclectic Company Theatre

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There’s a kind of bravura to the jaw-dropping display that is ‘Gothmas’ at the Eclectic Company Theatre. In its mélange of garage show, underground rave and 99-seat spectacular, this genre-coagulating account of a gay, a goth, a bi and those who love them to death is indisputably unlike anything else out there.

Co-written by Kerr Seth Lordygan and Laura Lee Bahr (who play the principal roles), ‘Gothmas’ revels in weirdness from its self-descriptive opener, ‘Nothing,’ as suicidal Helena (Bahr) sullenly explains her reasons for checking out early.

But closeted Garth (Lordygan), her best friend, saves Helena’s life and invites her to move in. This vaguely thrills Mabel (Taylor Ashbrook), Garth’s deep-in-denial mother -- until his coming out lands her in the hospital. Enter Joe (Kadyr Gutierrez), a switch-hitting eyeful who seduces both friends into a ‘Design for Living’ arrangement. This reaches a violently campy end as Act 1 closes, and everything spins out of control.

Imagine ‘Bat Boy’ spliced onto a William Castle movie infiltrated by Marilyn Manson and Tim Burton via a vortex to the Factory, and you still aren’t ready. Given the deliberate excesses, there’s remarkable invention to director Justin T. Bowler’s execution. Set designer Marco De Leon skillfully evokes multiple locales, aided by Rebecca Bonebrake’s yeasty lighting, the instant identification of Lori Meeker’s costumes and some particularly witty projections.

The entire cast, flailing gamely through Joel Rieck’s choreography, is vocally variable yet uniformly determined, with narrators Sandra Purporo and Levi Packer perhaps most energetic at selling musical director George ‘Drew’ DeRieux’s guitar-driven tunes. These range from inchoate to agreeable, but the predominant drawback is Lordygan and Behr’s libretto. Hovering choppily between parody and sincerity, the overstuffed book is as club-show rudimentary as the lyrics are laborious, at best.

‘Gothmas’ is certainly unique. A zealous cult following seems likely. Any future hopes beyond that require major reconstructive surgery.

-- David C. Nichols

‘Gothmas,’ Eclectic Company Theatre, 5312 Laurel Canyon Blvd., North Hollywood. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays. Ends May 17. Adult audiences. $25. (818) 508-3003. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.