A new parody show is coming to the Gaslight Theatre. “Harlie’s Angels” will give audiences a taste of what “Charlie’s Angels” would be like as a melodrama. The darker take on the beloved crime-fighting show will run through Sunday, June 2.
In the show, Harlie, the unseen boss of a detective agency, calls upon his three “Angels” to solve a crime that takes them into the fast-paced worlds of music and fashion. The show was co-directed by Mike Yarema and Katherine Byrnes.
The Gaslight has put on the production in the past, but general manager Heather Stricker said it’s been over 10 years.
She is portraying one of the “Angels” named Kim, a role she previously played with Gaslight in 2001 while she was in college at the University of Arizona. Stricker said that while the characters in “Harlie’s Angels” are based off the three female leads from the TV show — Jill, Sabrina and Kelly — the actresses bring their own versions.
“We always make our characters our own at Gaslight,” Stricker said. “While we like to spoof and bring things from the show, we also like to bring our own take on the characters and bring some more comedy into it.”
The other “Angels” are Jessie and Samantha, portrayed by Erin Thompson and Janeé Page, respectively. The show also stars Gaslight regulars Todd Thompson as Flavio Suave, Jacob Brown as Serge and Jake Chapman as Jerge. Erin Helm will be playing the leading role of villain Natinchka.
Since the play is set in the 1970s, audience members can anticipate lots of nods to the era.
“You can expect a lot of bright colors, bell bottom pants, disco music,” Stricker said. “I think a real standout for this show is our costuming. It’s just straight out for the 1970s, with amazing colors, amazing patterns. Our costume designer Renee (Cloutier), she just made so many of these pieces from scratch. The wigs, everything down to the accessories and the shoes, it really is just a special thing to see”
The musical numbers in the show are also based on songs from the 1970s. Musical director Josh Lamoreaux used click tracks to give the band a fuller sound. Stricker said audiences will hear instruments they won’t see, such as strings and horns. Lamoreaux also incorporates the synthesizer.
While the show is based on the original TV show, there are also references to the newer “Charlie’s Angels” films and other corners of pop culture to appeal to different members of the crowd.
“I don’t know if anyone who is coming has watched the full series of 1970s ‘Charlie’s Angels.’ So, we can’t be too specific on our bits,” Stricker said. “We have to keep them a little more generic. … We have a lot of characters that were definitely not in that television series that we have just made up ourselves. Two of my favorites are the Peroshki Brothers. They are these Slobbovian buddies who are helping the Commissar. They are trying to take over disco. They are really just trying to have a good time and dance. That reference is actually from ‘Saturday Night Live’s’ ‘Two Wild and Crazy Guys.’”
The three main characters also spoof on the concept of the sexy ‘Angels,’ which was prominent in the ’70s TV show.
“We’re flipping our hair around like they did, but of course, we do it a little more obviously,” Stricker said. “We do a fun play on the ‘Charlie’s Angels’ pose that was on the cover of everything. We use that as our heroine pose. Every time we say, ‘You can count on us, Harlie’s Angels,’ we hit that pose. It’s definitely things you remember from the TV show. We just like to exaggerate everything we do.”
Stricker said while they do play off the stereotype of the “Angels” as airheads, they are shown to be very capable and intelligent crime fighters.
“It’s tongue-in-cheek, and it’s definitely a choice that the character is making to get a leg-up on the situation, not because they are actually that way,” Stricker said. “We are trying to portray three strong, independent women while keeping true to what that series was because that’s what people will expect. … We play on the strong aspect of being three girls in charge, who know what to do next. We’re actually the ones saving the guy, who is the typical damsel in distress character.”
The show has also been updated from the original version by Yarema and Byrnes.
“We added another female part, so there’s four actresses instead of three,” Striker said. “We have switched out some of the music. There’s still a lot of ’70s disco, but you’ll hear a little Jamiroquai in there as well. We start the show with the song ‘Independent Women,’ which is definitely modernized. … And then, the jokes that Gaslight is famous for, we make sure to incorporate those, especially any new ones that have come about in the last decade.”
Regulars to the Gaslight know all about those.
“If somebody says, ‘Don’t make me get ugly’ at any point in the night, everybody onstage knows to reply with ‘Too late,’” Stricker said. “Another one is if somebody says, ‘I have half a mind,’ everybody onstage knows to reply with, ‘You said it.’ Those calls and responses are always in our back pocket, and we like to sneak them out at certain times.”
During each production, cast members also come out and do olios, or short vaudeville-style song and dance numbers. For the “Harlie’s Angels” production, the olio will be themed around “The Wizard of Oz.”
“It’s like seeing the entire movie condensed into 20 minutes,” Stricker said. “All of the characters are in it. We have a bunch of us playing munchkins, with special technical things to make it as funny and silly as possible.”
She said the olios allow audience members to see the versatility of the actors.
“After ‘Harlie’s Angels’ is over, you have this special olio of a completely different theme, all different music, all different everything, but it’s all the same performers,” Stricker said. “How fun is that to see these actors that you fell in love with in the first hour and a half play something completely different the same night? That’s so rare.”
Gaslight Theatre’s production of “Harlie’s Angels”
WHEN: Tuesday to Sunday through June 2, showtimes vary
WHERE: Gaslight Theatre, 7010 E. Broadway Boulevard, Tucson
COST: $27 for adults, $15 for children 2 to 12, $25 for seniors, students and military
INFO: 520-886-9428
thegaslighttheatre.com
