An affirming energy spread like wildfire at the Holt Building in Palo Alto on a particularly balmy afternoon.
Performers wearing their character’s shoes or worn out tennies pounded the grimy, beaten down carpet, with choreographer Lee Ann Payne leading the troupe.
At this moment in rehearsal, her focus was on veteran performer Danny Scheie, ensuring that all his steps in his raucous bop of a number “Catchin’ Up” were nailed. Scheie, a Bay Area theater institution and a soul blessed with comic timing from the hilarity gods, was on point, giving the room full of creatives plenty to howl about as he sang inanely hilarious lyrics. Seconds later out of nowhere, he unleashed a bevy of viciously graceful pirouettes as the rest of the cast tightened their own steps.
The hoofing was in service to the world premiere of “Happy Pleasant Valley: A Senior Sex Scandal Murder Mystery Musical” at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, beginning previews March 5. The show, a darling of the company’s 2023 New Works Festival, follows content creator Jade being canceled for some ageist remarks picked up on a hot camera. But in a stroke of fortune, Jade’s grandmother June is now facing an eviction at her senior citizen’s home. Can Jade save June’s living situation while filming her own heroism, proving she’s truly for the old folks?
One huge problem: the eviction is due to June’s prowess in the sheets, her powerful lovemaking skills a suspected murder weapon.
On this day, director Jeffrey Lo and book, music and lyrics creator Min Kanhg plopped dead center at their work station as the chaos and mirth of a new musical exploded around them.
Lo wears many hats for TheatreWorks. In addition to being the company’s associate producer of casting and literary management, he is regularly folded into a season as a director. Of the many shows he’s directed throughout the Bay Area, “Happy Pleasant Valley” represents a milestone.
“I was telling my family that this is the biggest show I’ve ever done,” Lo said. “It’s the size and scope of everything that’s in it. There are the projections, the video aspects and fostering a world premiere with brand-new orchestrations. I’ve never worked on a piece that has all these things circling around.”
Career ramifications are important to Kahng as well. An extensive background in children’s theater, Kahng’s work was last seen at TheatreWorks in 2017 in the world premiere of his “The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga.”
Yet it’s safe to say “Happy Pleasant Valley,” inspired by Kahng’s reading about sexually transmitted diseases in retirement communities, is quite the departure from his earlier show.
“We get the joke out of the way in the first 20 minutes; we’re old people and we like sex, but we can’t keep that joke going for 90 more minutes,” Kahng said. “As the show progresses, you realize the characters each have different attitudes toward sexual identities and relationships, which gets more fleshed out as the story progresses.”
What makes the show exciting for both Lo and Kahng is how older characters are centered. This is not a musical where senior citizens walk on stage and croon heartily to advise the next generation. Kahng wrote something where older characters are allowed to bumble and be messy, all with the novelty of a fun adventure that isn’t predictable.
“I just can’t take one person’s story and say, ‘Oh, that’s what seniors are like,” Kahng said. “I’m curious for the actors: When they wear these characters, how does it feel? Does it feel believable to them? Everyone I’ve written in some way is not my identity, so I need that feedback to help me keep a pulse on the characters.”
One of Lo’s joys about the show, and a huge reason he’s on board for this premiere, is how much fun these characters are. Despite the revealing title, it’s the surprises that keeps the show fresh and new.
“You come in with all these preconceived notions on what this musical is going to be,” Lo said, “and you get surprised in the best possible way about how much heart and real life these characters get to follow, while still having the fun of a sex scandal and murder mystery musical.”
“Happy Pleasant Valley: A Senior Sex Scandal Murder Mystery Musical” runs March 5-30 (opening night March 8) at the Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Tickets are $34-$94 at theatreworks.org.
David John Chávez is chair of the American Theatre Critics Association and a two-time juror for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2022-23). @davidjchavez.bsky.social