Vintage Denver gets naughty in lively 'Leadville'

By Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 7, 2008 at 7 p.m.

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REVIEW

A bevy of beauties, perfect pipes and a lot of naughty joking - Leadville or Bust is a winking, playful re-creation of turn-of-the-last-century Denver and a solid two hours of not- quite-lewd entertainment.

Reyna Von Vett wrote, directed and stars in a musical burlesque, a tribute to days that were raunchier than we may think, as evidenced by the collection of early film reels, particularly a raunchy few Mutoscopes and Edison Kinetoscopes. They're interspersed with vintage photos of Denver, and seeing screen-size projections of unpaved downtown streets with familiar landscapes is an instant fascination.

Onstage, Von Vett plays a kind of madam to her trio of chorus girls, played by Michelle Sergeeff, Elizabeth Welch and Melinda Smart, the first two Von Vett's cast mates in The Taffetas at the Garner Galleria. The affection and comfort level within the cast is evident onstage, as they all are clearly playing the same game.

Joyce Von Vett, Reyna's mother, provides piano accompaniment ("and that's not awkward at all," Reyna cracks), and for once a single piano is wholly appropriate, lending the evening the air of a silent-movie house.

Wendell Vaughn, known at Country Dinner Playhouse for doing a great deal with very little, provides musical arrangements, while Sergeeff invests the entire evening with playful, high-stepping choreography beautifully executed.

Von Vett has a voice too little heard in this area, delivered in assured clarity. She offers a sexy, lusty leader with a healthy dose of self-deprecation, whether through physical comedy or the boastful tomboy in Annie Oakley drag. (Von Vett's costume design is impressive in its range, although I wish the details and the hair hewed more closely to the period.)

She cracks sharp jokes throughout the show, so when she turns out a poignant, personal version of I'm the Loneliest Gal in Town, it's an affecting surprise.

Welch takes on the role of the proper young lady, particularly darling as she reveals a hint of spice and giggles through Von Vett's singing of Hannah Johnson's Big Jackass. Smart is terrifically funny in bowler-hatted drag and has a voice particularly suited to the blues-heavy score.

Those are blues not of the "my-man-done-left-me" school but of the innuendo-laced variety, including many metaphors about keys, locks and making them fit. The choreography and the direction make the most of the sexual suggestiveness, even if many of the blues songs come from a few decades later.

Four beautiful women, playing with their sexuality but always owning it, while singing in fine voice - who could ask for anything more?

Leadville or Bust

* Grade: A-

* When and where: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Crossroads Theater, 2590 Washington St.

* Cost: $19

* Information: 303-832-0929 or leadvilleorbust.com

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