The Island Packet, Thursday, April 12, 2007 by Nancy K. Wellard

'Tomfoolery' is total delight

The good news is that "Tomfoolery" at the South Carolina Repertory Company on Beach City Road is a total delight. The really good news is that, in response to popular demand, an additional show has been added to the run to accommodate those who have not yet seen it.

"Tomfoolery" is a lively presentation of the words and music of Tom Lehrer. Many in the audience remembered the recordings and appearances of the famous songwriter/math professor/writer/performer of the 1950s and '60s. There were some in the audience singing along in places, and everybody in the house joined in when invited.

The fast-paced musical revue runs through Sunday and features a highly energized cast of gifted professionals who bring rousing good humor to their roles.

Sharing acting, singing and even dancing responsibilities are two South Carolina Repertory Company veterans and New York actors, Robin Lee Gallo and Nick Newell. They are joined by Debra Capps and Philip Rosenberg-Watt, both making their debuts with the repertory company.

The show is unrelenting, calling on its talented performers to be almost constantly onstage. There is never a dull moment, and the audience, which couldn't be happier about that, keep right up with the tongue-in-cheek, often controversial material.

The four cast members interact, for the most part, as a quartet, with Rosenberg-Watt at the upright piano lending a kind of Lehrer presence. And through the evening, the piano and a wooden bench provide continuity and support for the sardonic, ironic production.

How appropriate, when the house lights go down and the stage lights go up, to be welcomed by one of Lehrer's most well-known pieces, "Be Prepared." Boy Scout hats and neckerchiefs were the costume of the day and the audience is reminded that these particular boys were, ahem, "one of the last bastions of decency" as the quartet chided the audience with "don't write naughty words on walls if you can't spell."

In seconds we're absorbed in a duet featuring Newell and Gallo sitting on a park bench tossing little bird treats and singing "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park," in which Lehrer is at his satirical best. With lyrics like "peanuts coated in cyanide," it must have set back any chance of a good relationship with the Audubon Societies for years.

One favorite gives a nod to the South, as the straw-hatted performers join together extolling the virtues of Southern living. "Pollution Tango" entertains old and young with references to "drinkin' the water and breathin'" the air, each generation relating to what it believes was Lehrer's message.

Rosenberg-Watt's time to shine comes with the famous "Elements" song in which the singer must sing the name of each of the elements within the accelerating musical framework.

There are folk songs about "still being appreciated when you're getting old and getting fat," the famous "Friendship" song, and the Irish ballad "Sing Rickety Tickety Tin." Remember, "she didn't have her family long ... for she did every one of them in, them in ... she did every one of them in."

Lehrer's World War II repertoire offers some terrific material with "So long, Mom, I'm off to drop the bomb." It's done ironically by the distaff side of the quartet, then followed immediately by the men in hunting gear and camouflage suits with allusions to Vice President Dick Cheney during the recounting of the successful hunting trip in which "two game wardens, seven hunters and a cow" were bagged.

There are love songs, too, such as "I Hold Your Hand in Mine, Dear" and "Oedipus Rex ... He Loved his Mother." And the enormously popular "Masochism Tango" with whip and jeweled handcuffs.

The troop brings the house down with "Smut," as they share magazines, books and a laptop ... to catch whatever is "lewd, lurid, licentious and vile." And one of the house favorites is "The Old Dope Peddler, doing well by doing good."

Newell and Gallo bring enormous fun to the evening, their energy never flagging in spite of the always on, always performing, always moving demands of the Lehrer material. Rosenberg-Watt and Capps keep the music flowing, too, with careful diction, comic expression and sideways glances. What a good evening, what fun.

Productions like this one require careful, creative direction and Chip Egan, who directs the performance, leads the gifted troupe through their paces. He is the interim chairman of the English Department at Clemson University. Joining him is his wife, Diane Egan, who manages the stage in this production.

"We don't normally do musicals," Hank Haskell said. "But we did a terrific show a number of years ago, so we just decided to go ahead and schedule it...we knew lots of Hilton Head Island folks would know Tom Lehrer.

"His message is so right today. In fact I'm sure there are audience members from each generation out there that think these songs are about their particular concerns."