Let me tell you something, I was treated to a hefty serving of Point Break Live this weekend and I want to go back for seconds! This hilarious play kept me laughing from start to finish; enough so that my cheeks are still hurting. Our lovely friend Sarah was kind enough to write a review of the show for DeluxeGravy! Enjoy
“100% pure adrenaline!” Bodhi Sativa yells. And he is absolutely right. Saturday night at the Dragonfly’s packed-to-the-gills production of “Point Break Live!” it was hard to tell who was enjoying the better ride: the squirt gun-wielding, fake blood-spurting, gyrating, levitating, near-naked cast of surfer bros-cum-masked criminals, or the audience, decked out in rain ponchos, ready to experience the figurative and literal comedic downpour that is the live stage production of the 1991 Keanu Reeves classic.
Written by Jaime Keeling and adapted for stage by directors Thomas Blake, George Spielvogel and Eve Hars, “Point Break Live!” simultaneously snuggles up to and thumbs its nose at Kathryn Bigelow’s "Point Break," which depicts Reeves as Johnny Utah, a college athlete-turned-FBI agent who embarks on an adrenaline-soaked mission to take down a gang of surfers, led by Patrick Swayze’s Bodhi, who moonlight as presidential-masked bank robbers to finance their “endless summer.”
With Blake taking on the role of goldielocked Roach and Spielvogel giving a hilarious turn as Gary Busey’s meatball sandwich-chomping Angelo Pappas, it is easy to see we are in good hands. The cast navigates through their B-movie roles with an impressive mix of camp, irony and heart. Tobias Jellinek ably fills Swayze’s shoes (albeit while barefoot and shirtless), Jennifer Jean vamps as Utah’s surfer girlfriend, David Simon strips to boxers as Agent Harp, and Jan Milewicz and John Miller lather each other up as lovably dimwitted surfer bros Grommet and Nathaniel.
But the most charming part of “Point Break Live!” is its unsuspecting star, chosen each night by the audience following a series of crippling auditions (Keanu-wannabes must be able to recite lines while doing jumping jacks) to portray Johnny Utah –on Saturday night, birthday boy John filled the role – in all of his monotone glory. In order to ensure that Utah delivers his line in true Keanu fashion, a team of professionals is standing by – Lisa Renee gives direction as Bigelow, Adam Douglas provides props, and the versatile Christie Waldon guides Utah as the show’s production assistant, holding out cue cards to give him his lines, kicking him to the floor to remind him when his college knee injury is flaring up again and filling in as his stunt double during the perilous fight scenes.
Add in some impromptu sky diving and surfing montages, a smathering of fake blood, and a healthy dose of inter-audience gun fights, and you’ve got yourself one of the most refreshingly retro nights out Los Angeles has to offer.
"Point Break Live!" plays every Friday and Saturday at 8PM at The Dragonfly (6510 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood.). Tickets: $20 at TheaterMania.com or 866-811-4111. More information at www.thedragonfly.com.
Written by Sarah Luery
Via: Thank You Sarah!
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