THEATER REVIEW

By TOM TITUS

For a considerable time, however, "Surf City" is more about teenagers' coming of age than the art of hanging 10. Then, in the show's final scene, we get a surfing championship segment described in language only Gidget and Moondoggie would fully comprehend.

There are 21 performers in "Surf City, U.S.A.!," only three of whom appear old enough to vote. Thus, the tenor is definitely slanted toward the younger generation — and the crises geared accordingly, from unrequited crushes to zits. There's even a bit right out of "Star Wars" in which a young man discovers his true father — and reacts in much the same way as Luke Skywalker did when he learned his daddy was Darth Vader.

Director Roberta Kay, who has a long and impressive pedigree in musical theater, has done her utmost to bring this formulaic new musical to life, and for the most part succeeds. Where the show needs attention desperately is in the area of its recorded music, which often drowns out the young voices attempting to project it, and, to a lesser degree, the tendency of some of the teen actors to rush their dialogue.

The show is brimming with youthful energy, which tends to compensate for its sort of watered-down "Grease"-like plot without that show's infectious pizazz. Teenage angst only can take an audience so far. Orlando, realizing this, has injected some serious side issues, however derivative, into her second act.