July 27 2006 Bay Area Reporter

Misunderstood Messiah
'The Legendary and Fabulous Passion Play'
by Richard Dodds

Imagine a meeting of So You Think You Can Dance and Godspell. Then throw in some Queer Eye and maybe a bit of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. These are some of the ingredients conjured by the strange brew titled The Legendary and Fabulous Passion Play.
Now at the Exit Theatre, it's the second offering by El Gato del Diablo Theatre Company, as well as the second world premiere by its artistic director Shawn Ferreyra. A program note reports that the play was inspired by the troupe's reaction to the fight against same-sex marriage, and its pleas for acceptance are clearly heartfelt if simplistic.
Despite the religious rituals that frame the production, and the earnest sermonizing, the play also has a sense of humor about its subject. But the line between the serious and the comic at times seems unintentionally blurry.
The central character is a drag queen named Jesus Esperanza, a name that is definitely relevant to the story. Cast out by her own mother, she now takes in other societal strays with a sassy confidence that can be undermined by what seem to be druggy deliriums. Jesus has a ward she has dubbed Sugarpie, a straight boy who has a yen for a haughty club chic with a thuggish boyfriend and a lesbian groupie.
In one of those is-this-meant-to-be-funny? moments, Sugarpie and the thug decide to fight it out — in a dance-off with vogueing choreography by Wendy Marinaccio in which the two contestants range from barely competent to ludicrously bad, despite the oohs and aahs of the spectators.
Though only about 70 minutes in length, the play can feel longer because of a pace slowed by portentous silences and energy-sapping scene changes in director Amy Louise Cole's production. As Jesus, Norman Munoz offers the strongest performance in a cast that includes Alex Hsu, Nancy Dobbs Owen, Christina Lowery, and Matt Socha.
Somehow, everyone ends up in same-sex couples, are then bashed by former friends and disowned by parents, and wind up under the wing of Jesus — who dies and is resurrected in a better dress and wig. There are angel choirs and a finale danced to Olivia Newton-John's "Xanadu." It sounds like a joke, but it's hard to tell.