By Ethlie Ann Vare
Hollywood, CA (The Hollywood Times) 07/23/2024
The Unauthorized & Unofficial Batette Follies of 1939 has extended its run at the legacy Montalban Theater at the famed intersection of Hollywood and Vine through August 11. The unusual production — originally called Gotham Follies of 1939, until the DC Comics and Warner Brothers Pictures lawyers got involved — mashes up comic book heroes and villains from the 1940s with music from the 2000s and then presents it in a performance style from the 1930s. The result is a gorgeously mounted but somewhat disjointed 90 minutes of sexy, episodic entertainment.
“We want to make something that feels new and progressive, but also we’re doing this old fashion vintage style show,” says writer/director Russall S. Beattie. “It’s a challenge because we’re bringing back a dead format.”
The dead format is vaudeville, a smorgasbord of song and dance and comedy and strip-tease that may have launched Abbott and Costello but hasn’t been performed in Los Angeles since before you were born. Unless you’re 87, in which case – you go, gurl!
Framed by expertly edited film clips that combined archival footage with gothic black-and-white images of Gotham City in the throes of a Prohibition Era crime spree, the show is a collection of musical interludes portraying a city rife with sex, gangsters and “beautiful monsters.” Mr. Freeze sings “Sounds of Silence” as if it’s an opera. A half-naked Catwoman plays with whips. Batgirl does circus tricks. Maneskin plays over a multilayered animation fever dream from Arkham Asylum (my favorite piece, with a tap-dance routine by Batman and Robin coming in second.)
You’ve got a half-naked Harley Quinn dancing with a giant baby doll, a half-naked Poison Ivy stripping to Sia, Two-Face in two costumes playing two songs on two pianos, and the Joker eviscerating a patient on the operating table while lip-syncing Julie Andrews. You never know quite what you’re going to get next, but it’s probably going to be weird. Beattie describes his sensibilities as a cross between John Waters and David Lynch. Sounds about right.
The visuals are stunning. The costumes are amazing. The sets are remarkable. The creativity that went into inventing the show and the enormous amount of talent required to execute it are impressive. Just be aware that there isn’t really a story and there isn’t really a through-line, other than “comic books” and “half-naked ladies” – both of which sound perfect for a 15-year-old boy, but 15-year-old boys rarely go to the theater.
The Batette Follies of 1939
Created by Russall S. Beattie
Produced by Gil Smith
The Montalban Theatre
1615 Vine Street
Hollywood, CA 90028
Thursdays – Sundays through August 11
