‘Highballs Ahoy!’ Sails a Sea of Parodies
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Mix a liter of “Love Boat” with “The Poseidon Adventure,” add a dash of “Gilligan’s Island” and Kathie Lee Gifford cruise commercials and slosh in “Mutiny on the Bounty” for good measure. Kirby Tepper, Craig Seeley and Rick Sparks do this and create “Highballs Ahoy!,” a deliciously naughty nautical cocktail of frothy camp, Sundays at LunaPark.
Get on board the SS Peggy Lee, a budget Oxnard-Tijuana cruise with Julie (Earlene Davis), an overly perky redhead cruise director and former talk-show host who is “getting away from the glare of public life” after a scandal (something about sweatshops), and sleazy lounge lizard emcee Les Stevens (Seeley, who was replaced by Tepper last Sunday).
As director, Sparks guides his crew into hysterical parodies. Most notable were Mark Tracy doing double-time as a version of pasty-faced Thurston from “Gilligan’s Island” and a hyper Richard Simmons, and Bess Motta as “the third Luft sister”--who makes a grand helicopter entrance to sing the title song (written by Tepper) before returning to her regular gig at Carrows.
Rory Cunningham adds just the right touch with costume design that ranges from gaudy confections to good-girl elegance to foppish splendor. This cruise is well-worth the fare.
* “Highballs Ahoy!,” LunaPark, 665 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood. Sundays, 7 p.m. Indefinitely. $14.99. (310) 652-0611. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
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