Review: North Coast Rep’s ‘Desperate Measures’ musical a light and clever twist on Shakespeare

The cast of "Desperate Measures" at North Coast Repertory Theatre

The Bard’s ‘Measure for Measure’ provided the framework for the tongue-in-cheek story

San Diego Union-Tribune

Jan. 19, 2022 4:37 AM PT

For some playgoers, hearing the name William Shakespeare can be intimidating, since understanding the Bard’s poetic Elizabethan text takes concentration and patience.

But Shakespeare’s influence on “Desperate Measures,” the wacky Old West musical comedy that opened at North Coast Repertory Theatre Saturday in its West Coast premiere, is minimal and in no way brain-teasing. Show co-writers Peter Kellogg and David Friedman play with Shakespearean style and conventions in a clever, funny and contemporary way, and the plot and characters have the exaggerated silliness of a Western melodrama.

The plot of “Despserate Measures” generally follows Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure,” where a young man, in this case Johnny Blood, is facing execution for a crime so his sister, a novitiate here named Susanna, goes to the governor to plead for his life. The corrupt governor offers to exchange a pardon for Susanna’s chastity, so the siblings and town sheriff devise a plan to disguise a prostitute named Bella Rose as Susanna for the assignation.

Samantha Duval, left, and Jo Garcia-Reger in North Coast Repertory Theatre's "Desperate Measures."

The two-hour musical’s plot is paper-thin, but the fun comes in with the saloon-style songs, which, like the script, are mostly written in the Shakespeare’s style of rhyming couplets but with modern language. Under the direction of Christopher Williams, the six cast members are sincere and fully committed to their broadly written characters, and they’re all good singers and actors.

Rusty Ferracane delivers a gleefully villainous performance as the amusingly named Governor Von Richterhenkenpfichetgruber. Elijah Rock has a terrific singing voice as the town Sheriff Martin Green. Jo Garcia-Reger has a tomboyish sweetness as Susanna, Samantha Duval is playfully coquettish as saloon girl Bella Rose, Michael Louis Cusimano is endearingly dimwitted as Johnny Blood, and Rudy Martinez is the boozy priest Father Morse.

Costume designer Elisa Benzoni’s costumes — including an eye-popping pair of lederhosen — are fun and colorful. Scenic designer Marty Burnett’s set has a barnlike look with a raised platform at center stage for the four-piece Western band led by music director and keyboardist Craig Bohmler. Jill Gorrie Rovasto designed the choreography, Aaron Rumley designed sound and Matt Novotny designed lighting.

“Desperate Measures” isn’t deep or thought-provoking like Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure,” but maybe that’s a good thing for pandemic-weary theater-goers looking for some light entertainment.

“Desperate Measures”

When: 7 p.m. Wednesdays. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. 7 p.m. Sundays. Plus 2 p.m. Feb. 2. Through Feb. 12.

Where: North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987D Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach

Tickets: $57-$68

Phone: (858) 481-1055

Online: northcoastrep.org

Arts & Entertainment Theatre

Pam Kragen

Pam Kragen is the arts and entertainment editor, as well as the chief theater, dining and opera critic, for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She joined the Union-Tribune staff in October 2012 after 27 years at the North County Times, where she served as the Arts & Features Editor, as well as the paper’s longtime arts writer and theater and opera critic. She is the co-founder of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from San Diego State University and completed fellowships in theater criticism at the University of Southern California and opera-classical music criticism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. And in 2022, she was chosen as one of the fellows in the prestigious National Critics Institute, run by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterf, Conn.