Lagunatics’ 2025 Tour de Farce arrives just in time
By MARRIE STONE
Over the past 30 years, Lagunatics creator and director Bree Burgess Rosen has developed a winning four-part formula for nonstop laughs: select beautiful songs, replace the conventional lines with sick and twisted lyrics, cast brilliant performers, and add some zany choreography and outlandish costumes to ensure a profoundly “stupid show.” This year is no exception. Not missing a beat in a climate where comedy is suddenly in the crosshairs, Lagunatics 2025 Tour de Farce arrives right when we need it most. The crew picks up where they left off last year…and keeps right on running.
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Photo by Jeff Rovner
Lagunatics’ creator and director Bree Burgess Rosen has co-written, directed and acted in the show since its start in 1992
The annual “Roast of the Coast” has been parodying our little hamlet and its ridiculous first-world complaints since 1992. Many of those complaints are perennial favorites – parking, tourists, trash. Half of us love to grumble about the Promenade, the school board, the City Council. The other half still grumble, just in the opposite direction. After all, it wouldn’t be Laguna if we simply suffered by the ocean in silence.
After foolishly worrying Burgess Rosen might run out of material, I inquired what could possibly be new under Laguna’s sun. “You’re kidding, right?” she replied, and began rattling off the list. California’s new “Zone 0 Law,” Tesla remorse, the incoming surf museum, the Irvine Bowl, the list goes on….
Taking inspiration from ABBA, Dolly Parton, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, the Beach Boys and others, Burgess Rosen teamed up with her favorite comedy team to rewrite some classic hits. Chris Quilter, Bridget English, Rebecca Lyles and MC extraordinaire Rufino Cabang all contributed lyrics. “On paper, the lyrics are hysterical,” Burgess Rosen said. “On its feet, these songs are pee-your-pants funny.”
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Photo by Jeff Rovner
Rufino Cabang returns as MC. He also wrote some of the song lyrics.
“I never understand when I am asked what the show is about this year. It’s always about the same thing: us,” said Quilter. “To live in a town we all love, where we all love to disagree about how to keep it that way…well, at Lagunatics, we call this ‘material.’”
For many of us old-timers, complaining is de rigueur. So, it’s fun to hear about Laguna from a newcomer’s lens. Enter Billie Liebner, one of Lagunatics’ new cast members who recently moved to town after growing up in Virginia and attending college at Loyola Marymount in L.A. “There are issues around town that I had no idea were happening and Lagunatics is how I’ve been introduced to them,” she laughed. “Most of them are run-of-the-mill community things – the superintendent or school board complaints. What makes me laugh are signs in people’s yards telling us that Laguna deserves a 25-meter swimming pool. These are the pressing issues. It’s so funny!”
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Courtesy of Billie Liebner
Lagunatics’ newcomer Billie Liebner
Liebner’s take on our town suggests she’ll fit right in. “Laguna is so unique because it’s a beach town, but it’s not like Newport. There are wealthy people, but it doesn’t feel snobby or uppity.” Perhaps to prove her own point, she seamlessly slides into her role as a goat. “I eat caution tape like it’s popcorn as I munch and watch the July fire.”
Jason Pascual, another Lagunatics newcomer, says the fire number is his favorite. “It’s so absolutely bonkers silly that I can’t help but chuckle. We have a water and fire dance battle, goats, planes and light saber battles. It’s just one hot mess of funny.”
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Courtesy of No Square Theatre
Lagunatics takes on the Rancho Fire, which occurred on July 7 near Rancho Laguna Road and Morningside Drive
Lagunatics’ regular Rob Harryman added, “Eric Anderson singing about the Promenade to ‘Let It Go’ is one of the highlights for me this year. His comic timing is impeccable. ‘Fugue for Horses,’ about the new LBPD mounted police force (to the tune of ‘Fugue for Tinhorns’ from Guys and Dolls), gets the rest of the cast laughing every time we rehearse it.”
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Courtesy of No Square Theatre
“Fugue for Horses” stars (L-R) Rob Harryman, Jason Pascual and Marc Marger
A good laugh, perhaps now more than ever, is just what we need. “Laughter, and the art of not taking ourselves too seriously, is a beautiful medicine to the divisive state our world is in right now,” Pascual said.
But the outside world isn’t far from their minds. Burgess Rosen has a running joke with Music Director Roxanna Ward that if she were a book, she’d be banned. Today, the line lands a little less funny.
“We used to say, if it weren’t for free speech, we’d both be doing hard time,” she said. “Free speech is not a thing in our country right now.”
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Photo by Jeff Rovner
Music Director Roxanna Ward gets her own number this year. She’ll sing “I’m Still Queer” to Sondheim’s “I’m Still Here.”
Still, there’s comfort in the reliable traditions. If you’re lucky enough to live here, that’s how Lagunatics feels. Its Same Time Next Year quality reminds us that – whatever battles are happening out there – our little hamlet is still a safe space to laugh about it.
Lagunatics 2025 Tour de Farce runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 3 through Oct. 19. Performances are held at No Square Theatre in historic Legion Hall, located at 384 Legion St. (at Catalina Street), Laguna Beach. The fundraiser gala happens on Sunday, Oct. 19. Gala tickets include food, drinks, auction and party. For tickets and additional information, visit their website here.
