Conceived by Susan L. Schwartz and adapted by Erica Schmidt from a famous 1970s porn film, "Debbie Does Dallas" at the Jane Street Theatre is the perfect show for arrested adolescents of all ages. After a gleeful start, this good-natured but witless musical, a hit at the 2001 Fringe Festival, has a laugh quotient in inverse ratio to its lewdness.
Debbie is a small-town, middle-America high school looker chosen to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. Lacking funds to get to the Lone Star State, she enlists the help of her four nearest and dearest friends. Not being terribly skilled, or terribly brainy, they learn new uses for candles and bananas as they sell their favors to one and all--er, comers, including covetous bosses, hormonal jocks, and randy yuppies. Squealing with delight, the quintet soon makes enough dough to send Debbie on her way.
All this is told to a paucity of melodies composed by Andrew Sherman, with additional music and lyrics by Tom Hitt and Jonathan Callicutt. Lively direction by Schmidt and choreography by Jennifer Cody have the cast racing about the stage and aisles with breathless abandon.
Sherie Rene Scott gets just the right balance between naivete and perception. Toward the end, when she protests that she can't continue because the show is "supposed to be about the compromises we make," she's both sly and adorable. Mary Catherine Garrison is a hoot as Lisa, with Tricia Paoluccio and Jama Williamson delightful as two of the other cheerleaders. As Tammy, Caitlin Miller has a hilarious bout with hysteria. Playing all the men, Paul Fitzgerald, Del Pentecost, and Jon Patrick Walker are willing patsies.
Christine Jones' sleek scenic design, Shelly Sabel's rock lighting, Juman Malouf's skimpy midriff costumes, and Laura Grace Brown's insistent sound design give the evening a gloss it doesn't deserve.