‘Out’-Classed

LAGUNA BEACH —  They each have a hang-up and a song to go with it. They’re neurotic, crabby, funny, confused and ambitious. They’re all women, and they’re in group therapy.

“Inside Out,” which had its Orange County premiere Thursday at the Laguna Playhouse, features so many polished singers in this spare, handsome production that they almost make the show seem better than it is.

Chlo (Lisa Richard), the single mother who’s gay, has no love life and can’t connect with the teenage son she dotes on; Dena (Kirsten Benton), the former pop star, is broke, emotionally buttoned-up, and trying to recoup her career; Liz (Beth Robbins), the business executive, doesn’t have time for her husband and kids because she’s too busy climbing the corporate ladder.

Sage (Eydie Alyson) is the warmhearted kook with low self-esteem, lots of Tarot cards to live by and a boyfriend who’s a jerk; Molly (Judy A. Walstrum), the housewife who recently gave birth, believes she’s too fat and no longer alluring to her husband. Then there’s the successful group therapist, Grace (Teri Ralston), who goes around like a den mother patting them on the back to foster confidence.

These generic, needy, sketchily written characters in search of themselves give each other the support of a sisterhood that thrives on goodwill and bromides. They trade barbs, too, and gain insight by stepping into each other’s panty hose with a bit of role-switching drama therapy.

But the half-dozen or so group sessions substitute for a plot. The rhythm of “Inside Out” becomes predictable; and director Jule Aaron’s staging, slowed at times by use of a clunky turntable, doesn’t overcome that problem, despite many small touches that try to camouflage the absence of any forward motion.

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When Stephen Sondheim breathed new life into the American musical theater with sophisticated songs that flow like ordinary conversations and a sensibility that prizes, among other things, the ingenuity of melodic phrasing matched to common speech, he may have done a disservice to lesser writers who attempt to emulate him. Lacking his musical wit and wordplay, they end up writing noodle-brained material.

The creators of “Inside Out”--Doug Haverty (book and lyrics) and Adryan Russ (music and lyrics)--can write comic lyrics that fit the music. When Sage sings, “The homeless people said the food I cooked was stale / How can you do charity and fail?,” the lyric is a well-set gem. Haverty and Russ can even come up with a truly excellent song such as “If You Really Loved Me,” far and away the best of the 16 here.

But much more often in this much-revised, off-Broadway musical of 1994, they tend to write banal songs with largely forgettable tunes inexplicably arranged to sound like elevator music. These lyrics, for example, could give a singer lockjaw: “Every time your heart says, ‘Yo!’ / Let it go”; or “Can I climb over the wall around my heart?”; or “There’s no crystal ball inside my head.”

That this experienced ensemble--my favorite is Alyson, who makes the most of Sage--manages to deliver such maladroit ramblings without sinking to their level was miracle enough to draw an enthusiastic response from the first-night audience.

The playhouse has gone to considerable lengths to discover out-of-the-way shows, best exemplified this season by its last West Coast premiere of a musical, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.” This time, too, the performing talent and the production values are just as laudable, especially Michael Pacciorini’s costumes.

But the stock material of “Inside Out” is off the rack and doesn’t hold up. Though mildly entertaining, it has a few too many seams showing.

* “Inside Out,” Moulton Theater, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday matinees, 2 p.m. Ends March 29. $29-$35. (714) 497-2787. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.

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“Inside Out,”

Kirsten Benton: Dena

Teri Ralston: Grace

Eydie Alyson: Sage

Lisa Richard: Chlo

Judy A. Walstrum: Molly

Beth Robbins: Liz

A Laguna Playhouse production of a musical by Doug Haverty and Adryan Russ. Book by Haverty. Music by Russ. Lyrics by Russ and Haverty. Directed by Jules Aaron. Choreography by Roger Castellano. Scenic design by Don Gruber. Lighting design by Paulie Jenkins. Costume design by Michael Pacciorini. Sound design by David Edwards. Stage Manager: Barbara Stephenson.