STAGE WEST: "Regency Girls" at the Old Globe Theatre

Clockwise from left: Isabelle McCalla, Krystina Alabado, Kate Rockwell and Ryann Redmond in "Regency Girls."                                                                                                                        Photo by Jim Cox

            At its most promising, “Regency Girls” may do for theater what “Barbie” did for the movies: royally piss off the patriarchy while taking a big swing for women’s autonomy, especially when it comes to their own bodies. The Old Globe is calling this world-premiere show “Broadway-bound,” so in the not-so-distant future Middle America could be singing along with Madame Restell, fixer of “female troubles” and disgusted poser of the musical question “Can you believe this shit is still happening in 1810?”
            But for now the Globe is home to “Regency Girls,” a proudly irreverent, loudly rebellious, no-holds-barred musical comedy that goes where “Pride and Prejudice” dared not go. Absolutely it’s an audience pleaser, though at a bloated two hours and 40 minutes I’d like to have been pleased at least 20 minutes less.
            “Regency Girls” was conceived (you’ll see why that’s a play on words shortly) pre-COVID-19 pandemic and before the overturning by the Supreme Court of Roe v. Wade, but it’s assuredly a show for these times – 200 years after the Regency era in England, yes, but alas connectable to those in power on this side of the Atlantic striving to turn back the clock for women. Its creators comprise a potent team: Hollywood-based writers Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan (book), whose comedy credits primarily for television and film are top of the line; composer Curtis Moore (Broadway and television) and lyricist Amanda Green (“Mr. Saturday Night,” “Bring It On,” et al). The notion for “Regency Girls” began with Green, and it’s her consistently clever lyrics that give the production its zing.
            Never during the entire production does anyone either say or sing out loud the A-word, but it’s crystal clear early in the going of “Regency Girls” that unmarried protagonist Elinor Benton (Isabelle McCalla) is desirous of ridding herself of an unwanted pregnancy. The consequence of a night being “occupied” as he calls it by her fiancé Stanton (Nik Walker). That threatens to leave Elinor “Ruined” as goes the ensuing musical lament featuring herself, vacuous sister Jane (Kate Rockwell), outspoken sister Petunia (Ryann Redmond) and Elinor’s very sharp maid Dabney (Krystina Alabado). But the latter then sounds a hopeful note: There’s a woman in London, a Madame Restelle, who knows how to fix “Female Troubles” (the next song in the show).
            Co-writers Crittenden and Allan have described what then happens as a “Wizard of Oz”-like road trip for the four women – Elinor, Jane, Petunia and Dabney – with the end of their Yellow Brick Road being the door of Madame Restelle (Janine LaManna), a character based on a real-life Madame Restelle, a midwife and abortionist who lived in the 19th century.
            But we don’t even meet Madame Restelle until the second act. In the interim, our Regency Girls encounter a comical Robin Hood type who calls himself Galloping Dick (Gabe Gibbs). If that’s less than subtle it’s compatible with “Regency Girls” as a whole, which while shielding the audience from the A-word holds little else back. The excess would seem, well, excessive if not for the urgency of the show’s recurring message, one best articulated by the production closing number titled “We Are Never Going Back There Again.” But I'm getting ahead of myself.
            Galloping Dick aside, Act One includes the musical’s best scene and the one that makes the point of “Regency Girls” with comic antics more than preachiness. “Man Things” finds Elinor and Petunia dressed as men and giddily cavorting with the guys raising hell in a tavern. Amid the fun Elinor realizes that not only can she belch out loud with the best of the boys but that when accepted as a man her opinion on things actually matters. By contrast upstairs, above the raucousness, are Jane and Dabney, “Patiently Waiting” side by side and sharing a raisin for sustenance.
            An inspired sequence.
            The “Regency Girls” creators devised an antagonist to toss into the story – the snooty and scheming Lady Catherine (also played by LaManna), who has learned of Elinor’s pregnancy and of her mission and who seeks to blackmail her into wedding someone else. Thereby saving the dashing Stanton for one of her odd-duck daughters.
            The scenes with Lady Catherine at their center feel overplayed, and that’s saying something in a show with as many bold strokes as this one.
            Nothing’s restrained in Act Two, in which Madame Restelle, whom we finally encounter, tears through the rousing “How Long (in 1810)” like it was a finale, and in a by-comparison-subdued number previously prim Jane “Finds Her Tingle.” No partner needed.
            By the time we get to “Brains and Booty” with the four women clad as if for midnight burlesque, the better to shock the stuffed shirts at a ball, “Regency Girls” has exceeded the speed limit. It’s careened away from what seemed an initial intention to take “Pride and Prejudice” to naughtier and more feminist levels. It starts to feel like too much show.
            Fortunately, this enterprising world premiere regains its footing and its more thoughtful tone in the latter 15, 20 minutes when the messaging centers on choice. (Elinor must do what she must do while Dabney, admitting to being “in trouble” herself, must do what she must do.)
            Comeuppances and pleasing pairings-up are guaranteed from then onward.
            Unquestionable is the sheer energy generated by the principal cast of “Regency Girls.” McCalla, Rockwell, Redmond and Alabado are a mighty and mightily engaging foursome, each possessing both comic and vocal chops. McCalla (“The Prom” and “Disney’s Aladdin” on Broadway) stands out on her own, too, as a worthy heroine that even Jane Austen would approve of.
            Doing double-duty, the stalwart-voiced LaManna would have been better served had she been given more Madame Restelle and less Lady Catherine, and so would the show. Gibbs, meanwhile, makes the most of playing both Galloping Dick and Jane’s duplicitous intended, Dingley, who it’s revealed never met a courtesan he didn’t favor.
            Director and choreographer Josh Rhodes does wonderwork with all that’s going on, practically from the outset. “Regency Girls” is perpetually in motion and that serves it well, especially given its length.
            His “Regency Girls” sure looks and sounds like it’s ready for Broadway. Costume designer David I. Reynoso nails the romanticized period, transporting us back in time – to the English countryside in 1810 -- with a flourish, and music director Patrick Sulken leads a marvelous orchestra.
            “Regency Girls” is funny but it’s quite serious about the better world for women to which it aspires. “Let us speak our truth, let us lift our pen,” goes the closing number, “let us roll the tide with the strength of ten / for the just must win ev’ry now and then.”
            “Regency Girls” runs through May 11 at the Old Globe in Balboa Park.