ON STAGE

Prove It On Me
Stella Adler Theatre, through Mar. 2
***1/2

Things are going well enough for Harlem chanteuse Georgia Brooks (Sweet Baby J’ai, who conveys the allure of Eartha Kitt without the Continental posturing) until the forward young flapper Lindsey Dalton (Aynsley Bubbico, pert and lovely) develops a powerful crush on her, the sort that only rich white girls can entertain. There’s more, of course, in Dee Jae Cox’s engaging, if somewhat overwritten, potboiler-cum-romance: a family curse, a family fortune, a family secret, suicide, voodoo, and the presaged imminence of Black Tuesday. Kelly Ann Ford’s direction deftly keeps the production on an even keel, never succumbing to the more hyperbolic aspects. Even the presence of Aunt Josie (Deborah Keller, imparting utter dignity to the role), fresh from New Orleans and able to read the future in chicken bones the way most of us read screen crawls, fails to stretch credulity. The music (Michelle Weiss), which nestles comfortably into the club milieu, is a seamless part of a most impressive whole. —WENZEL JONES

Shark Tank
Metropolitan Community Church in the Valley, through Jan. 27
**

I cannot believe I tore myself away from a Lifetime movie about mean teenage girls to watch a cast of (mostly) gay characters behave exactly the same way for an interminable 90 minutes. Jason Melby's play contains the following: one cute boy looking for love, his ex-, one camp cliché, one rake, one hunky but lonely bartender, one DJ who only truly lives while in his booth, one man in a committed relationship, a birthday boy bemoaning time's ravages (he's 27), one fag hag, and two straight guys there on a dare. Mix in a butt-ugly bar that's either packed or dead, depending on who's talking, and watch as time you'll never get back drains away. The production is most often two characters sniping at each other with labored archness while a half-dozen or so stand in the background filling space. The decision to eschew intermission and keep the audience captive was wise; the decision to leave the cross hanging on the multi-purpose room wall above the bar, disturbing. —W.J.

LIMITED RUN

Cabaret

The unforgettable Sally Bowles graces the stage in 1930's Berlin, romancing two bi-sexual men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them. International City Theatre at Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Tue., Feb. 5. 8 p.m. Through March 9. $32.-$60. 562/436-4610. www.ictlongbeach.org.

Li'l Abner

The 1956 hit musical Li'l Abner based on Al Capp's classic comic strip returns for the 2007-2008 season of Reprise! Broadway's Best. Li'l Abner and Daisy Mae fight to save their beloved Sadie Hawkins day and Dogpatch from atomic testing. The Freud Playhouse. Tue., Feb. 5. Through Feb. 17. $60-75. www.reprise.org.

The All Female 1929 Skidoo Review

When Meme Dames, a 95-year-old former vaudevillian discovers the old Regal Theater will be torn down, she persuades her great-great granddaughter to sneak into the theater with her and relive her glory days. This review brings together an all-girl review of music, dance and comedy skits from that era. Actors Forum Theatre. Fri., Feb. 8. For eight weeks only. 8 p.m. $20. 818/506-0600. www.actorsforumtheatre.org.

Junebug and Carolina Chocolate Drops

New Orleans-based theater artist and storyteller John O'Neal with the music of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, honoring Black History Month. O'Neal presents songs, stories and poems drawn from African American oral history. Sat., Feb. 9. Walt Disney Concert Hall. 11 a.m. & 12 p.m. Free. 213/972-3379. www.musiccenter.org.

HOMO MUST

Stay Forever: The Life and Music of Dusty Springfield

In her one-woman, musical play, Kirsten Holly Smith celebrates the journey of Dusty Springfield, whose music from the 1960s inspired a new generation of female singers. The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center premiers Smith's monologue and songs, showing how this legendary star remains relevant today, nearly a decade after her passing. The Renberg Theatre. Thur., Feb. 7. 8 p.m. Through Feb. 24. $25. www.lagaycenter.org.

AISLE SAY

Murder Most Foul

The true story of gay teenage sociopaths Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb has been dramatized countless times, either directly or in fictional works inspired by the grisly events. Among the films have been Swoon, Compulsion, Murder By Numbers, and Alfred Hitchcock's classic Rope, which was based on a play by Patrick Hamilton. But the saga of these spoiled Chicago hellions, who in 1929 brutally murdered a young boy for sport had never been related as a musical until Stephen Dolginoff's Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story bowed Off-Broadway in 2003. That show made its West Coast debut in a 2006 Orange County production, and is now about to have its L.A. premiere, courtesy of a debuting producing group, Havok Theatre Company, under the expert eye of award-winning director Nick DeGruccio (Zanna, Don't!, The Laramie Project). The dark-hued musical relates the codependent gay bond between the two young criminals much more explicitly than in any of the previous dramatizations. The Orange County production was a mixed bag, but with DeGruccio at the helm, we're betting that this eagerly anticipated staging will be a knockout. The show opens Jan. 26 at Hollywood's Hudson Backstage Theatre. More info is available at www.havoktheatre.com.

As if to treat us to an L&L festival (and we don't mean Lerner & Loewe), multitalented Daniel Henning, artistic director of Hollywood's venerable Blank Theatre Company offers the premiere of his docudrama, Dickie & Babe: The Truth About Leopold & Loeb, beginning February 8 at Hollywood's 2nd Stage Theatre. Henning, who directs the show and wrote the script, based entirely on court transcripts, medical reports, and newly discovered source material, regularly offers some of the most challenging and entertaining fare seen in our fair city (such as his knockout 2006 production of The Wild Party). So this production promises to be a blockbuster. Sweetening the pot is a stellar cast, headed by Bruce Boxleitner, Vicki Lewis, Charlie Schlatter, and Michael Urie. Playing Leopold is Aaron Himelstein, and Nick Niven takes the role of Loeb. Henning promises there will be shocks aplenty and revelations of never-heard facts surrounding the legendary case, which had superstar lawyer Clarence Darrow (Boxleitner) as defense counsel. This fascinating story rivals such scandalous latter-day cases as those of O.J. Simpson and the Menendez brothers, and the homosexual aspects of the chain of events makes it all the more intriguing. More information is available at www.theblank.com. Can't wait to see both of these shows! —LES SPINDLE