‘I’ll Be Damned’ looks no darned good

Broadway favorite Mary Testa plays a smothering mom in a Faustian musical

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

Ever a bold presence on or off Broadway, Mary Testa is a proficient musical comedy belter ("42nd Street," "Xanadu") and an actress with strong dramatic chops ("String of Pearls"). Testa's appearance in the new Faustian musical "I'll Be Damned" likely is drawing extra customers down to the Dimson Theatre, where Jaradoa Theater's production opened over the weekend for a showcase stint.

Disappointment awaits viewers, since the musical is a solid idea that's lazily developed in silly and pointless ways.

The convoluted story by Rob Broadhurst and Brent Black centers upon Louis (Jacob Hoffman), a home-schooled geek with a passion for comic book superheroes and apparently no awareness of Facebook.

Somehow the naïve and totally friendless Louis strikes a sympathetic chord with Satan (Kurt Robbins), who's made a bet with God (Gregory Treco) about nabbing the kid's innocent soul. Meanwhile Testa depicts Louis' cheerfully smothering mom.

There's lots more plot, but let's spare you the details of this relentlessly trivial piece that visits both heaven and hell yet remains stuck in a limbo of unexplored creative possibilities regarding friendship between desperately lonely individuals.

At least the eclectic but insubstantial score by Broadhurst (music) and Black (lyrics) offers a couple of upbeat tunes that occasionally help to while away the tedium of their repetitive, cartoonish script.

Testa invests the needy mom with her customary verve. A low-keyed Robbins makes his grouchy Satan into rather an agreeable fellow. The role of Louis is such a clueless nebbish that he soon turns tiresome in spite of the sweet, eager quality that the talented Hoffman gives his character. The remainder of the ten-member company looks amateurish under April Nickell's rudimentary direction.

Only diehard fans of La Testa need bother with "I'll Be Damned," an event cursed by low creativity.

"I'll Be Damned" continues through July 18 at the Dimson Theatre, 108 E. 15th St., New York. Call (212) 868-4444 or visit www.JaradoaTheater.org.