‘In Search of Fellini’: Vignettes of Italy

Best known as the voice of Bart Simpson, Nancy Cartwright is a gamin performer with a distinctively raspy voice. Close your eyes. You’ll hear more than a trace of the bratty kid who has become an international icon.

Unfortunately, in Cartwright’s one-woman show “In Search of Fellini” at Theatre Geo, you just might want to close your eyes for other reasons as well.

Developed in collaboration with writer Peter Kjenaas and director Leslie Welles, “Fellini” concerns Cartwright’s journey to Italy. Her mission? To corner Fellini on his home turf and secure the stage rights to “La Strada.”

What sounds like an interesting premise bogs down into a half-baked non-play, in which Cartwright engages in a couple of ill-fated romances, buys a glass sculpture, gets loaded on rum-laced pastries and raves about Leonardo da Vinci’s genius. Despite all attempts to elevate it to the significant, Cartwright’s show is reminiscent of an album of awkwardly composed vacation pictures, sweet mementos to the participant but dull to the uninitiated.

* “In Search of Fellini,” Theatre Geo, 1229 N. Highland Ave . , Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Nov . 26. $18. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.