theater

Once "America's Swinging Sweethearts," Pete Bartel and Keely Stevens have been asked by NBC to drag out their husband-and-wife song-and-dance schtick one more time for a televised reunion show in 1968. Thing is, they haven't been in the same room since their big blow-out breakup at Caesar's Palace five years before. What would Sonny and Cher or Steve and Eydie do? Pete 'n' Keely, coming to Act II this month directed by Ken Marini, aims to find out. A spoof of splashy, tacky TV specials of the '60s, the show was a bit hit off-Broadway when it premiered in 2000 with George Dvorsky and Sally Mayes as the divorced singing duo (and for an indication of the cheesy-glam factor they were going for, Bob Mackie designed the costumes). At Act II, the very qualified Todd Waddington (giving his drag alter ego Harriet Levy a break) and Denise Whelan (most recently Barrymore-nominated for her turn in the Arden's Sweeney Todd) take up the roles. In between renditions of the standards ("Fever," "Besame Mucho") that made them stars, they "banter," which most of the time involves taking nasty shots at each other that reveal more about the disintegration of their marriage than the blossoming of a relationship—making it all more than a little awkward for the show's emcee, Marty (played by Jered McLenigan). It's a campy, funny trip down memory lane, with a bit of Vegas glitz for good measure.

Pete 'n' Keely, Fri.-Sat. and Tue.-Wed., Jan. 6-7 and 10-11, 8 p.m.; Sun., Jan. 8, 2 p.m., through Feb. 5, $20-$32, Act II Playhouse, 56 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, 215-654-0200.