‘Women’ Seeks Observations of Substance

“Does it ever cross your mind?,” ask the six women addicted to supermarket tabloids. They are wondering about the truth in stories like “I Saw Jesus in My Chicken McNugget Sauce” and “Michael Is LaToya.” Those bulletins from the blissfully ignorant front come from the musical “6 Women With Brain Death or Expiring Minds Want to Know.” Now might seem a good time for another revival of this 1986 revue, which exploits the same rampant paranoia as movies like “Men in Black” and “Conspiracy Theory.” But instead, “6 Women” is a slice of entertainment whimsy as stale as yesterday’s National Enquirer.

Despite its jolly title, the show is really not about anything. A Theatre League production at the Forum Theatre in the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, “6 Women” is actually just a litany of complaints meant for community building, paved with such unfunny observations as “Who came up with flavored douches anyway?” and “I have 104 channels and I still can’t find anything to watch.”

“6 Women” is worse when it tries for pathos, such as in a number in which an obnoxious account executive loses her job and suddenly becomes homeless. On her cell phone, she tries calling a succession of first ladies--Nancy, Barbara and Hillary--who, according to the song by Mark Houston, only have to walk down the hall to help. Of course, none of them do.

Though the show is clearly meant to be light as air, a certain passivity infects the characters and the scenarios themselves. These women read the tabloids because they “just need something to believe in,” and they bemoan men, children, jobs and the fact that, when they were younger, life seemed to make sense. They complain that this is a world in which the evening news is replaced by “Hard Copy,” and yet they love the tabs. Even as thinly written characters, they don’t have consistency.

Karon Kearney directs herself and five actresses, who all work hard to put a dizzy spin on flat material. Often their effort is all that’s on display. Diane Vincent stands out as the most nimble clown of the bunch, and Tonya Dixon has a lovely voice and presence.

If tabloids provide mindless escape, “6 Women” aspires to nothing higher.

* “6 Women With Brain Death or Expiring Minds Want to Know,” written by Cheryl Benge, Christy Brandt, Rosanna E. Coppedge, Valerie Fagan, Ross Freese, Mark Houston, Sandee Johnson, Peggy Pharr Wilson. Music and lyrics by Houston. With: Michelle Callahan, Donna Cherry, Tonya Dixon, Karon Kearney, Barbara Niles, Diane Vincent. Forum Theatre, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Wednesday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m.; Sunday 7 p.m. Ends Sept. 14. $17.50 to $21.50. (805) 583-8700 or (213) 480-3232. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.