‘Groundling Like It’s 1999’--a Mixed Year

The Groundlings launch their 25th anniversary season with “Groundling Like It’s 1999,” an uneven bill of new sketches and improvisations that sometimes relies too heavily on physical comedy.

The show begins weakly with a themed musical number, “Placido Domingo,” in which John Crane portrays the opera great trying awkwardly to rock ‘n’ roll while singing the Artist Formerly Known as Prince’s “1999.”

Yet some of the better skits are also musical. “Message to My Girl” has a hired trio (Michael LoPrete, Crane and Maggie Baird) telling a young woman (Jennifer Coolidge) that her boyfriend is dumping her on her 30th birthday. “Glory of the Games”--featuring Baird, Crane, Holly Mandel, Brian Palermo and LoPrete--takes on the winning ways of Salt Lake City as it looks forward to the 2002 Olympics.

Facial and other physical contortions make some of these skits work, such as “Gladys,” in which Baird’s middle-aged drunk--in a glittery outfit--sits down to read a few stories to children during a library story time. But others, such as Mandel’s “Hate Crime,” depend too heavily on elastic face muscles at the expense of the writing.

Amy Von Freymann has fun with words in her “Step Into My Parlour,” as Helen Gurley Brown gives advice to women in a “frump slump.” Stylized, bad Argentine cinema is parodied in Mandel’s devastatingly funny “Don’t Cry for Me.”

Last Friday’s uniformly funny improvs included a dance to a television theme song selected at random. Although director Tony Sepulveda generally keeps up a good pace, the last skit ends the evening with a whimper.

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* “Groundling Like It’s 1999,” Groundling Theatre, 7307 Melrose Ave. Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 and 10 p.m. Indefinitely. $17.50. (323) 934-9700. Running time:1 hour, 50 minutes.