Golden Girls

Cherry Bomb

by Mark Cofta

Jennifer Childs and 1812 Productions have explored comedy history in nine years of annual holiday shows, and Cherry Bomb: The Worst Act in Vaudeville for the Holidays is their most accomplished yet. Playwright-director Childs examines a surprising sibling quintet, "those awful girls from Iowa," who had the "unlimited gall" (according to a critic they sued for libel) to perform so badly that enterprising producer Oscar Hammerstein I made them famous.

Hammerstein (outrageously hammy Scott Greer) encourages audiences to throw rotten vegetables, but Childs, composer James Sugg, an exquisite production (Charlotte Cloe Fox Wind's costumes are a show in themselves), and fine performances inspire a far more empathic response.

Like Stephen Temperley's Souvenir, about obliviously awful would-be singer Florence Foster Jenkins, the Cherry Sisters' magic lies in their stubborn belief in themselves. We're won over by the humble sisters discovering celebrity while protecting their dignity — "we don't have to show our legs or cuss" — but increasingly fear their seemingly inevitable realization that they are, indeed, awful.

Playing bad takes great skill, and Cherry Bomb's cast excels: Mary Martello, Maureen Torsney-Weir, Megan Bellwoar, Mary McCool and Charlotte Ford create genuine characters even while their vaudeville act matches what one critic called "the wailings of lost souls." Dave Jadico plays Hammerstein's beleaguered assistant, Edgar, whose affection for Addie (Bellwoar) makes the sisters' bond particularly poignant.

While I was most impressed with the show's heart and humanity, Cherry Bomb is also hilarious. The girls present their story as a vaudeville: Their Iowa tour is "a juggling extravaganza," their first review becomes "a dramatic reading with dance accompaniment," and other biographical details (including their post-fame fates) make slapstick skits. Sugg's light music cleverly references familiar tunes.

Cherry Bomb culminates in the sisters' actual act, an anthropological work achieving their greatest goal: to be remembered. Their awfulness is confirmed, but forgiven in advance — we feel far too much affection for them to join that bully Hammerstein in tomato-throwing. In the show's heartbreaking final moments, Effie's overwrought "Scatter Roses" rescues the sublime from the ridiculous, and the Cherry Sisters are, briefly, as elegant and profound as they see themselves.

(m_cofta@citypaper.net)

Cherry Bomb | Through Jan. 4, $25-$50, 1812 Productions at Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey St., 215-592-9560, 1812productions.org