Laughing Matters: Lagunatics roasts our coast for the 31st year
By MARRIE STONE
Photos by Jeff Rovner
Now that fall has arrived and Laguna’s residents have reclaimed our town from tourists, maybe we can finally find some humor in the chaotic summer we all endured. Too soon? No Square Theatre doesn’t think so. They rightly concluded that now – sandwiched between a season of overwhelming crowds and an upcoming contentious election – is exactly the right time to “laugh ‘til you pee.” And you might.
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The “Lagunatics” ‘24 cast will perform “Laughing Matters” weekends through Sunday, Oct. 13 at No Square Theatre in Legion Hall
Just when our City Council marked themselves “safe” from more 4th of July complaints by announcing their reversal on fireworks for next year, Lagunatics delivered a fall-off-your-seat parody of this year’s drone show (followed by an expertly adapted takeoff on Paul Simon’s “Sounds of Silence”).
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(L-R) Rob Harryman and Jay Rechter perform “Sounds of Silence”
Just when Victoria Beach’s angry Karen put down her rope and hoped the viral videos would die down, No Square served up first-time Lagunatics’ performer Sydney Penticuff for a lyrical recreation of the scene. “It’s fun because it’s so unlike my personality, so I get to tap into that level of over-the-top,” Penticuff said. “And there’s a lot of audience participation.”
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Sydney Penticuff stars as Victoria Beach’s angry Karen
And just as Lagunatics was readying to debut their new hit “Caffeine” to poke fun at the proliferation of coffee shops in town (I stopped counting at 29), Stu News reported that the planning commission recently approved a conditional use permit for Better Buzz Coffee to take over the old BJ’s Restaurant on Coast Highway. When the No Square gang rehearsed the number last week before Friday’s opening night, they laughed about how the town kept reinforcing their comedy routines.
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Yvonne Browning as the Queen of Caffeine
The show is skillfully MCed by Rufino Cabang, who grew up in Laguna and whose family owned and operated The Royal Hawaiian for 59 years. His opening act, to the tune of ABBA’s “Fernando,” shares the perils and pleasures of being the only Filipino kid in town.
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Laguna native Rufino Cabang hosts the show
There aren’t many towns where a show like this works. It requires a tight-knit community facing unique and mutual concerns – ideally with a shared “nemesis” like tourists – that serve up an endless supply of material year after year. Add to that our perfect name, and Lagunatics is born.
For all the funny fodder the city routinely provides to poke fun at, Lagunatics manages to accomplish something perhaps more important. They recognize there are awkward aspects to living in paradise. If we voice our annoyances out loud, it’s the ultimate first-world-problems conundrum. How entitled can we get?? While we may all live in Wonderland, our troubles still live alongside us. Where to share those very real frustrations – about taxes and traffic and trash – in a productive and somewhat private way? The answer is square in the center of No Square.
“The thing I love about Lagunatics is that it really is a community event – for the community, written by the community and performed by members of the community,” said Rob Harryman, who has been a Lagunatics’ regular since 2009. “And it is always supported more by our locals…than any of the other productions we put up at No Square.”
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Rob Harryman stars as Laguna’s hungry goat, joined by Marc Marger, Brennan McMahon, Eric Anderson and Jay Rechter
Director Bree Burgess Rosen conceived of the show more than three decades ago. This marks Lagunatics 31st year on stage. Fortunately, the town delivers an endless supply of material, so the musical never grows stale. The night of the 4th of July drone show, Burgess Rosen called longtime lyrics writer Chris Quilter to hatch a plan. “By the time we rehearsed it, we were all laughing ‘til we cried,” she said. “That’s what Lagunatics is about. It’s therapy for the audience, but it’s really good therapy for the people in the show.”
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No Square Theatre Director Bree Burgess Rosen has written, directed and acted in the show since its origins in the early 1990s
“I love writing songs for the show, and that’s its own reward,” said Quilter, who penned about half the songs in this year’s production. “But the hard part – ‘real’ theater to me – has always been everything that happens after that. To sit in audience and laugh helplessly at something I’ve written after it’s been amplified by all that talent, well that’s pure joy.”
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Quilter was joined by fellow writers Bridget English, Rebecca Lyles, Rufino Cabang and, of course, Burgess Rosen. But the supporting talent doesn’t end there. This year, Music Director and keyboardist Roxanna Ward is joined by Jacob Gonzalez on guitar and Elliott Glass on drums. In addition to showtunes from musicals like Hairspray and Barbie, they perform variations on songs by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
Ward adds her quick and witty improvisational repartee throughout the show. She earned her comedic chops playing at Little Shrimp (turned Victor Victoria’s), one of Laguna’s gay bar institutions, for 13 years. “If you want to learn quick comebacks, play with gay men who don’t have quite enough material,” Ward said. “I had to be funny. They were so quick, and I had to be quicker. I honed a lot of skills doing that job.”
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Music Director and keyboardist Roxanna Ward brings her signature improv laughs and witty banter throughout the show
Costume designer Brigitte Harper has honed her own skills over the last 10 years of working with No Square. She made magic happen again, dressing Burgess Rosen as a clipboard using donated fabric, sewing six bathing costumes for Laguna’s arthritic elderly swimmers and five furry outfits for our town’s goats. With only a few weeks to pull dozens of costumes together, Harper’s become a wizard with the motto: reduce, reuse, recycle.
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Bree Burgess Rosen sports her gold lamé clipboard costume, styled by costume designer Brigette Harper
As always, Lagunatics pokes lighthearted fun at our town’s cute quirks and inside jokes. Our goat herd chew-chew-chewing what they’ve chew-chew-chewed before. Our ambivalence over the temporary art installed on City Hall’s lawn (including that sparkly oversized Dream Big dog). The city’s on-again-off-again legalization of the firepits on Aliso Beach. The school district’s unwelcome takeover of the community pool. The rainbow-colored lifeguard tower at West Street beach (starring longtime No Square star Marc Marger and his purple puppet). All in all, nearly two dozen hilariously adapted tunes comprise this two-hour show (with one boozy intermission).
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Marc Marger performs “Rainbow Objection”
“This year’s show is entirely Laguna-centric,” Burgess Rosen said. “There are still plenty of moments available to people who don’t live in Laguna – you don’t have to live here to find our goat number delightful – but all the songs are centered on the town.”
Funny moments aside, there are two giant takeaways Lagunatics wants us all to remember this season. First, when times get tough (and they’re getting tougher), laughing matters. And second, make sure you’re registered to vote.
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The “Lagunatics” cast reminds everyone to vote! Democracy is no laughing matter.
Lagunatics ‘24 Laughing Matters runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday through October 13. 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. 13. Gala tickets include food, drinks, auction and party. For tickets and additional information, visit their website here.
