THEATER REVIEW:'Frost' brings in the funny

Perhaps you've heard of the Troubadour Theater Co. and its irreverent song-based holiday spoofs like "It's a Stevie Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Carol King." Well, there's a new one in town, at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank, to be exact, called "JACKson FROST." Which Jackson did you think of first? The Jackson Five? Jackson Browne? Joe Jackson? They're all in this one, plus a few more.

"JACKson FROST" is this reviewer's first foray into the crazy world of the Troubies and now I get what all the buzz is about. These are some seriously talented individuals. Made up of sketch comedians and circus performers, the troupe is creative and energetic. The humor can be a bit schmaltzy Catskills circa 1969, but who cares? It's entertainment from beginning to end.

No credit is given for the writer of this play. One supposes it's the brainchild of director Matt Walker. Or perhaps it's a collaboration of all the Troubadour players. In any case, it's funny.

The general idea is that Jack(son) Frost, fairy assistant to Father Winter, falls for the lovely and all-too-human Elissa. He wants out of fairyland. Father Winter grants him the right, so long as he can acquire four very human qualities by play's end. Those include a house with a mortgage he can't afford, an addiction, a keychain with a bottle opener and a spouse.

His journey via Jackson Junction is full of encounters with kooky characters, snappy musical numbers and confrontations with a not-so-evil villain named Krubla Krause.

The whole thing is anchored by a guy named Pardon Me Pete the Groundhog, whose exact role in the story is unclear but whose presence is comforting, if only because he brings the chaos back in line. He's rather strange looking too — kind of a cross between early Michael Jackson, Thriller Michael, and Michael in a Broadway production of "Cats."

There's a four-piece live band that sounds outstanding. My only complaint is that it's hard to hear what I assume are funny new lyrics to the songs. This is compounded by the fact that the performers are singing and dancing hard (though they rarely seemed winded —these folks are in good shape).

One song that particularly works well is Krubla Krause (played by Matt Walker) singing with his weird robot puppet friend, Domi, high on Miserable Mountain. It's a version of the corny duet "The Doggone Girl is Mine."