Theatre Review — “The Andrews Brothers” Slapstick Fare for Fans of WWII-Era Pop

The Andrews brothers are 4F, meaning they can’t directly join the fight against the Axis powers. But they’ve signed up with the USO to help entertain the troops at Fort Kittylock. They’re only stagehands, but they’ve got a hankering to perform ⎯ a chance that arises when a snafu means that pinup girl Miss Peggy Jones is short three backup singers/dancers. But can they answer the call of duty when headliners the Andrews Sisters call out sick?

That’s all there is to The Andrews Brothers, Roger Bean’s jukebox musical composed of World War II-era pop hits. But you don’t come to this sort of thing for plot: it’s all about the music and the fun. So long as you’re not looking for depth on either count, Musical Theatre West delivers well enough ⎯ especially if you hang in there ’til after intermission.

With his flat feet, eldest Max (David Engel) is the most graceless of this trio of theatre nerds, while Lawrence (Jonathan Arana) is near-sighted and has trouble memorizing lyrics, and baby brother Patrick (Larry Raben) is asthmatic and gets über nervous around women. These failings evince themselves exactly as you expect, particularly once pin-up gal Miss Peggy Jones (Krystle Rose Simmons) shows up and they start rehearsing for the big show.

By turns cute and cloying — and always slapsticky and without substance — The Andrews Brothers is mostly an excuse to trot out upbeat tunes from the WWII-era American songbook. This is a very specific taste — a lot of us look at this as a particularly fallow patch of American music history — so you’re best off avoiding The Andrews Brothers if you’re not already a fan of “Rosie the Riveter”, “Mairzy Doats” (“Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy / A kid’ll eat ivy, too ⎯ wouldn’t you?”), and “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” (“… with anyone else but me …”). The best song you’ll hear is “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”, which, unlike, most of the songs surrounding it, has some of the swing that generally made the era’s instrumental music far superior to the staid vocal pop of the time.

Vocally, the performers deliver the often challenging three- and four-part harmonies with mixed results. At times they’re pristinely clear, but occasionally the mid-low frequencies get muddy. However, the facility with which all four cast members handle their simultaneous singing-dancing-comedy duties consistently impresses. And under the direction of Ryan O’Connell, the band is spot-on throughout.

The highlight of The Andrews Brothers comes during “Six Jerks in a Jeep”, when Simmons pulls two “servicemen” onstage for a fairly extensive bit of audience participation. This kind of thing can easily go wrong, but it paid off handsomely on this night, particularly with a bit of COVID-related humor that provided the show’s biggest laugh.

The Andrews Brothers is little more than a revue of not exactly the best music the first half of the 20th century has to offer. But if you’re a fan nonetheless, this is a lite night out when you can leave your troubles at the door and “Ac-Cent-Tu-Ate the Positive”.

The Andrews Brothers at Musical Theatre West

The show runs through February 27
Times: Fri 8pm, Sat 2pm & 8pm, Sun 1:00 p.m.; plus Thu Feb 17 7:30pm, Sun Feb 20 6pm
Cost: starting at $20
Details: (562) 856-1999, musical.org
Venue: Carpenter Performing Arts Center (6200 W. Atherton, Long Beach)