Let My People Come

Music & Lyrics by Earl Wilson, Jr.

Directed by Brian Posen

Music Direction by Kory Danielson

Choreographed by Matter Dance Co.

Produced by Street Tempo Theatre

At Stage 773, Chicago

Vulgar pornographic musical not raunchy enough for 2011 tastes

The new theatre company, Street Tempo Theatre, under the direction of Brian Posen, tackles the cult hit of 1974 – Let My People Come! This musical revue suffers from being too tame for the tastes of 2011. In 1974, it sure must have been a vulgar, too sexy trip down raunchy sex lane making it an innovative porno musical.

With tunes like “I Believe My Body,” “Screw,” “Come In My Mouth,” “Take Me Home” – the revue sings and dances appealing to our carnal desires. But many of the raunchy lyrics became lost with the choral singing from the 13 person cast. Also, since most of the dance numbers in this 75 minute revue utilized the entire cast, it quickly became obvious that some members of the cast were dance-challenged making some of the routines reek of community theatre.

The show has a strong gay theme especially with songs like “I’m Gay,” sung by the gay male cast members. These players were the most talented of the lot. Perhaps the 2011 version should have been an entire gay themed revue?

As performed, Let My People Come! has some funny and titillating moments but they were too few. Some of the girls sang off key, some screamed, with many of the ensemble singing weirdly flat. The non-sing bits and sketches suffered from being bland.

Finally, many cast members were not too sexy. If the aim was to have representatives from all size and weight and body types- this show hit the target. As a revue, the singing was uneven and the dancing too crowded but my main objective was that the show was not raunchy enough. More skin, more faux-sex acts and loads of nudity would have spiced up the show. During  the ending numbers cast members only stripped to their designer underwear when full nudity would have brought the house down. I guess this was the GP rated production when an X rated show was expected. I’d advise making this revue a late night show with more sexual situations and nudity- after all it is a porno musical.

Somewhat Recommended

Tom Williams

At Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL, call 773-327-5252, tickets $28, Thursdays thru Saturdays at 8pm, running time is 75 minutes without intermission.