Little Drummer Bowie is wild and noble

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It is a tribute to the late great David Bowie but it is also a nonstop saturation of zany comedy and wild juxtaposition. It is set, so it seems, in Biblical times, yet the characters have smart phones including one Samsung S7 that explodes. Amidst the mishmash there is a storyline of a young man discovering himself and learning the meaning of true friendship and even love. Yes that is a noble storyline but the fun flows from the steady stream of music laced mini skits and frequent witticisms, several aimed at current American politics.

Joseph Leo Bwarie and Beth Kennedy
(Photo by Sherry Greczmiel)
Every performer on stage projects a real sense of having a great time and that positive energy is delivered to the audience with sensational effect. Joseph Leo Bwarie brings the depth and experience of more than 2,000 performances as Frankie Valle in the smash Broadway hit Jersey Boys. Rick Batalla is an award winning multitalented performer, writer, director and founding member of the Troubadour Theatre Company. Beth Kennedy has won numerous awards and for very good reason, she is absolutely sensational.

In fact the entire cast is nothing less than very accomplished and genuinely amazing. True, but that said Cloie Wyatt Taylor brought pure joy with her riveting dancing.

Little Drummer Bowie is not all that easy to define. It crosses many centuries in time yet is as relevant as today’s news. It is a story of passion, and success and failure and love. But most of all as presented by the Troubadour Theatre Company on stage at the Falcon Theatre it is just plain utterly entertaining.

Finally I offer this note. The band, led by drummer Eric Heinly, is just plain fantastic, one more reason to enjoy this show.

Little Drummer Bowie is at the Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank, California 91505. Performances are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and a few select Tuesdays. Reservations and ticketing are available online or by telephone at: 818-955-8101.

Top photo: Rick Batalla, Katie DeShan and Niles Rivers (Sasha A. Venola)