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Theater review: ‘The First Jo-el’ by Troubadour Theater Company

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A young, unmarried couple expect a baby, which has her father in a stew. What will the Bethlehem neighbors think? Then three wiseguys, with Jersey accents and a violin case, stumble into town following yonder star, and in Daddy’s mind, a light bulb flashes.

Literally. A light bulb illuminates above his head.

Soon, he’s got the whole town singing along to his idea.

Such a mash-up can only be the work of the Troubadour Theater Company, which keeps working its way through the canons of Western literature and popular television, infusing timeless tales with classic-rock soundtracks. This Christmas, the Troubies are combining the Nativity with the music of Billy Joel to deliver ‘The First Jo-el.’ It’s mighty clever and a whole lot of fun.

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The biblical source material is treated with reverent irreverence, but worry not, because most of this stuff is made up. That young couple? They’re not Mary and Joseph; they’re Letty and Manolo. Some 20 of Joel’s songs are wryly interpolated. Sample: Stop being so ornery, Daddy, or she’s ‘Movin’ Out.’ In a manger, a five-piece band performs away.

As Christmastime iconography -- slightly warped and repurposed -- piles up, the Troubies deliver tongue-in-cheek commentaries on Information Age insta-news and Mideast relations, with all manner of pop-culture references tossed in.

Director and Troubie ringleader Matt Walker hangs farther than usual outside the performing spotlight, which focuses especially brightly on power-piped Katie Nuñez and good-natured Matt Morgan as the parents-to-be, as well as on Lisa Valenzuela as the earth-motherish mother, Jack McGee as the sour-but-sweet papa, and Morgan Rusler in a bust-a-stitch turn as Frankenstein -- this last because the wiseguys are (mis)named for the gifts they carry: Gold, Frankenstein and Myr (short for Murray). This being the Troubies, the show also includes laugh-meter tests of jokes-in-progress and much clowning overall -- as well as a less-expected tear or two. ‘You May Be Right,’ I may be crazy for this show. As for you, no ‘Pressure,’ but tickets are going fast.

-- Daryl H. Miller

‘The First Jo-el,’ Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank. 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 4 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Some exceptions. Ends Jan. 16. $34.50-$42. (818) 955-8101 or www.FalconTheatre.com. Running time: 2 hours.

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