'Chasing Nicolette': A whimsical, fearless — and relevant — romance

Composer David Friedman and lyricist Peter Kellogg, whose "Stunt Girl" played the Village Theatre last spring, are back with the West Coast premiere of a witty musical that's written in rhyming iambic pentameter.

Kellogg has said, "It's based on a French romance, written in the 13th century — and it's a Christian/Muslim love story. It's so relevant it's scary."

It's also pretty funny. The director, Steve Tomkins, establishes a whimsical tone from the beginning, and he fearlessly goes wherever the lyrics lead him. There's a bit of vaudeville schtick here, a silent-film slapstick routine there, and even a series of punchy sound effects that could have been lifted from a vintage Warner Bros. cartoon.

He embraces the idea of rhyming couplets with a fairy-tale logic that's hard to resist. It takes awhile to get used to the idea, and the first act does seem a little exposition-happy at times, but by intermission you may be longing for more. There's not a weak link in the cast.

The title character in "Chasing Nicolette" is a princess (passionately played by Tanesha Ross), who was kidnapped from her Carthage home at a very young age and became a maid to a nobleman. The latter's swooning son, Aucassin (the quick-witted Matthew John Kacergis), falls for her but fails to gain his father's approval for a marriage.

Lending comic relief to the Romeo-and-Juliet situation are a jester, played with crack timing by the flexible Nick DeSantis (wait till you see what he does with his hand and arm extensions), and a cranky nun (Kate Jaeger) who threatens to starve Nicolette if she doesn't follow the house rules.

A second-act showstopper, "Sing to Her," which expresses a frustrated king's advice to his daughter's passion-deficient fiance, is hilariously (and loudly) over the top. "Stranger and Stranger" neatly summarizes the story's complexities.

But the first act has its moments too. "Nothing in Common (But Love)" expresses the doubts of an infatuated girl who hopes/thinks she's found the love of her life.

The vigorous seven-piece orchestra is conducted by R. J. Tancioco. Scott Fyfe's revolving set deftly suggests several wildly different locations, while Melanie Burgess' costumes instantly establish the status of the very rich and the very poor.

"Chasing Nicolette," which played Off-Broadway in 2005, has a lot to say about parental tyranny, gender confusion, dungeon manners, ill-advised conflicts — intimate and war-scale — and the nature of young love, first love. And it usually finds a way to say it with a very knowing (and winning) smile.

John Hartl: johnhartl@yahoo.com.