Popesical: what a great title. It’s succinct; it’s informative. You know that what you’re going to see will be an irreverent, gleefully offensive satire of Catholic tradition, along the lines of a Fringe-budget Book of Mormon. Director and composer Adam Overett (correctly) assumes that an audience attracted to the theater by such a title will think that the juxtaposition of ridiculous musical numbers with Papal iconography is inherently funny, and that such an audience will also laugh at the concept of two Cardinals having a tender, searching, homosexual meet-cute in the papal conclave, and will appreciate the line, “Oh, Cardinal, I can’t wait to experience your Mass.”
The premise of Popesical is that the Pope has died, and eight seriously flawed Cardinals have assembled. They compete in a series of hilariously pointless challenges in order to prove their worth and piety (e.g. “Biblical Chairs”). Cardinal McCafferty (Stephen Christopher Anthony) is the only mildly deserving one, but must wrestle with his sinful, romantic feelings for Cardinal Bergenstein (David Perlman), who, though pious, has this inexplicable, nagging feeling that he is somehow different from the rest of the candidates. (The concept of a confused, secretly Jewish Cardinal leads to my favorite joke: in the play’s opening montage, Perlman tells a nun that he must leave his home village and seek God; he says it with the expertly Yiddish-inflected tones of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.)
Overett gives his cardinals many serious ballads, through which I sat stony-faced; this seems an unnecessary stab at drama from an audience happily prepared for crass humor. Out of eight Cardinals, there is one singer who rises above mere competence: the fantastic Danette Holden, who plays the ditzy, Christ-obsessed Cardinal St. Louis, and is a consummate performer. There are occasional dips in joke quality throughout Popesical: Overett has Hu Jin-Chao (Jason Veasey), a man posing as a Chinese Cardinal, deliver played-straight, obnoxiously stereotypical syllables of Chinese gibberish, but then also writes lines I love, like, “This is a fitness competition! Only a spry, well-muscled Pope may win!”
Nevertheless, if the word “Popesical” amuses you, the play will amuse you as well. Go for the seventy-five percent of jokes that are delightful, and for David Perlman and Danette Holden’s performances.
