By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
photo by The Gawnes
Spider-Guy (Jake Chapman) never lets the force of gravity, or any other force, hold him back from defending justice.
When it comes to super-heroes based on comic books, Gaslight Theatre has one of those, too. We're talking about the company's latest production, “Spider-Guy,” where that human dynamo of arachnid energy is created when a high school science lab's nuclear device is accidentally activated by a rather large black spider.
You just gotta see it to believe it.
And hear it, too, because this headline topping high flyer leaped from the insect world in metropolitan Center City, USA, during the 1960s when rock 'n' roll was in full flower. The rock beat is strong in this young Spider-Guy, still a student at Excelsior Community College, where the innovative scientist Dr. Cornelius Crocodilious (Mike Yarema) has been experimenting with his atom-crunching Molecular Activator.
The good doctor's ambition is to go where no Crocodilious has gone before. In this show, adapted and directed by Katherine Byrnes and Yarema from the original written by Peter VanSlyke, that is exactly what happens.
It all started when innocent Billy Baker (Jake Chapman) got distracted by bubbly new student Mary Lou Peterson (Kelly Coates) and also became the butt of jokes by the insufferably preppy student Edgar “Junior” Eagleton (Jacob Brown), as cool as a student can be wearing a dark blue blazer and bright pink pants.
In the Gaslight's version, Junior's mom is Elizabeth Eagleton (Erin Thompson) publisher of the powerful Daily Trumpet publication, who brags incessantly about how she runs Center City.
OK, so the last piece of the puzzle in this Spider-Guy legend begins with ego-maniacal Mathias Maxwell (Todd Thompson), president of MaxCorp, who lives by the unscrupulous promise, “Nothing stops Mathias Maxwell. Nothing!”
But the action really kicks in when Billy Baker discovers his super-human strength and acrobatic web slinging skills as crime stopper Spider-Guy and Maxwell seizes the Gaslight's office tower stage as that indomitable villain, the Green Gremlin, assisted by sinister Velma Vultura (Heather Stricker) in black, the mistress of monstrous evil laughter.
As for the show itself, energy abounds with solid rock song parodies based on “Saturday Night,” “Dancing in the Street,” “Can't Hurry Love” and others. Everything is heightened by elaborate special effects as Spidey swings on one rope after another, flying among the downtown skyscrapers and then scaling one of those citadels to the corporate world to rescue Mary Lou, the sweet young damsel in distress.
The aftershow olio is modeled after “You've Got Talent” with Mike Yarema as scowling Simon Cowell, punching the futures of ambitious contenders reminiscent of the Backstreet Boys and other pop stylists.
But my personal favorite was the aging entertainer who first appeared on Broadway as a young girl with the title role in that 1977 musical “Annie.” She may have been a one-hit wonder child, but she's also a determined trouper who has lived the hard knock life and will keep on wearing that red dress and singing “Tomorrow” until her very last breath.
“Spider-Guy” continues to August 25 with shows at various times Tuesdays through Sundays in the Gaslight Theatre, 7010 E Broadway Blvd. Tickets are $27 plus tax, with deductions available for groups, students, seniors, military, first responders and children age 2-12.
Reservations are required. For details and further info visit www.thegaslighttheatre.com or phone 520-886-9428.
