‘Macabaret’ Is All in Good Pun

The West Coast Ensemble’s “Macabaret” isn’t exactly “Cabaret.” It’s a slim, one-hour pun-anza of mostly good melodies and graveside humor, for those who find Halloween not a day but a state of mind.

Scott Keys and Robert Hartmann dug up an odd assortment of characters: Show Ghoul (Jessica Pennington), Phil Graves (Bryan Black), Maude Lynne (Anette Sanders), Donna Shroud (Lauren Cohn), Paul Bearer (Richard Israel replacing Scott Dreier) and Helena Handbasket (Jodi Harris). And there’s even an odder assortment of tunes about murderous spouses (Harris and Israel), a woman (Cohn) torn between her obsessive loves for homicidal maniacs Jason and Freddie, a psycho cow, homicidal cowboys (Israel) and getting a man with the right blood type (Sanders).

As director, Israel camps it up with a true appreciation for the B-movie genre. Musical director Kevin Parcher gets smooth, tight harmonies flowing from these guys and ghouls.

In all, it’s a light, bright pun fest garnished by lovely harmonious voices, something from a corner of the universe where bad horror movies and vaudeville have collided.

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* “Macabaret, a Musical Revue,” West Coast Ensemble, 522 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles. Wednesdays-Thursdays, 8:17 p.m.; Saturdays, 11:17 p.m. Ends March 28. $15. (213) 525-0022. Running time: 1 hour.