Review: Diversity and the barbershop quartet at the Colony

“The Fabulous Lipitones,” now in its California premiere at the Colony, is one of those adorable, fuzzy little musicals you can pat on the head, confident that it will never bite you.

In fact, all that cutesiness can be a tad annoying. The show, by John Markus and Mark St. Germain, with incidental original music and lyrics by Randy Courts and St. Germain, respectively, seems a cynically conceived crowd-pleaser that overworks its somewhat tired central premise.

Yet if Markus and St. Germain pander to their audience, they do so with a certain degree of panache. And they keep on truckling, right up to a wackily offbeat denouement that largely mitigates the previous jejunity.

The action centers around a small-town barbershop quartet of middle-aged Caucasian guys for whom the group is a welcome escape from disappointing lives. There’s married accountant Howard (John Racca), lovelorn pharmacist Wally (Steve Gunderson) and thrice-divorced gym owner Phil (Dennis Holland). When their fourth member drops dead just shy of a big competition, the guys must scramble to find a replacement.

SIGN UP for the free Essential Arts & Culture newsletter >>

The newcomer proves to be Baba Mati Singh, a.k.a. Bob (Asante Gunewardena), an immigrant automobile mechanic whose cultural “otherness” triggers Phil’s anti-Middle Eastern paranoia. As it turns out, Bob is not Muslim but Sikh – a hedged bet that neatly dodges potentially polarizing issues while providing ample opportunity for one-liners – mostly based, of course, on Bob’s fish-out-of-water naiveté about all things American.

Markus, who also directs, elicits appropriately broad performances from his actors, who vividly delineate their paint-by-numbers characters. Musical director Sam Kriger has trouble mastering his performers until the sweet-voiced Gunewardena arrives on the scene, after which some impressive harmonizing results.

___________________________

For the Record: July 30, 11:45 a.m. An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Mark St. Germain directed “The Fabulous Lipitones.”

___________________________

As for sheer entertainment value, there’s a fair amount to be had if you’re in the mood for sheer escapism that won’t strain your brain – or linger there for long.

“The Fabulous Lipitones.” Colony Theatre, 555 N. 3rd St., Burbank. 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends Aug. 23. $25-$49. (818) 558-7000, Ext. 15. www.ColonyTheatre.org. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.

ALSO:

‘Hamilton’ offers American history with a hip-hop beat

Review: ‘Oklahoma!’ sweeps audience back to prairie in lush show

Review: ‘Bent’ exhibits enduring power of love, courage and identity