A SHAKESPEAREAN WESTERN MUSICAL?
DON’T WORRY, IT MEASURES UP
The wild west sizzles with song and chaos in Desperate Measures, the rootin’-tootin’ Wild West musical shinin’ bright at International City Theatre in Long Beach. Peter Kellogg (book and lyrics) and David Friedman (music) convert a Shakespearean problem play into a hootenanny of moral quandaries, mistaken identity, and toe-tappin’ tunes. If you like your classics twangy and your justice winked at, this one’s for you.
Christopher Karbo, Gabbie Adner, and Daniel A. Stevens
Virtue is loose in this adaptation of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Morality is as pliable as a saloon girl’s curtsy, and justice is more a function of fast thinking, fast talking, and a well-timed change of costume than of law.
At the eye of this dangerous game is Sister Mary Jo—formerly simple Susanna. She’s a nun about to take her final vows when she discovers that her brother, Johnny Blood, is set to be executed. His transgression? A tavern brawl that ended in death, though Johnny says it was self-defense. The guy who holds his fate in his ink-stained hands is Governor Otto Von Richterhenkenpflichtgetruber, a name so lengthy it’s in danger of needing its own intermission. This is a guy who likes his power a bit too much, especially when it provides him with negotiating leverage over the devout and the desperate. He’ll issue a pardon—but only if Susanna offers him something first.
Madison Miyuki Sprague
This is where the predicament becomes deliciously complicated. Sister Mary Jo has vowed chastity, but she wants to save her brother from death. Cue Sheriff Martin Green, a straight-laced lawman with enough Shakespearean know-how to propose an old ruse: If the governor demands a midnight tryst, why not substitute someone else in her stead? That’s where Johnny’s gal Bella Rose comes in, a saloon dancer (i.e. prostitute) with a heart of gold and, more importantly, a penchant for breaking rules for the sake of justice.
The ensemble
This is not Shakespeare’s Vienna—this is the wild frontier, where women are underappreciated, men overreach, and the night is forgiving enough to make a sneaky exchange go unnoticed. The book is nudge-nudging its source material while full-steam-ahead-ing its way through its own kind of skullduggery.
Gabbie Adner and Jason Whitton
The show is excruciatingly aware of what it is—a shamelessly goofy, self-aware romp that doubles down on its own absurdity. The gags are large, the shenanigans nonstop, and the knowing looks at viewers all land. All the overacting is a deliberate, thoughtful decision, and the reward is infectious. It’s fast, it’s funny, and it’s not afraid to throw decorum out the saloon doors.
Madison Miyuki Sprague, Aaron Gibbs
The score, with its country and Western leanings, is wonderfully diverse. The opening number of the show, “The Ballad of Johnny Blood,” is a clever parody of old-time Western television show themes—tumbleweeds, twang, and the sort of melodrama that would embarrass a gunslinger. Act I ends with “In the Dark,” a choral swirl to a sultry rhumba. The rambunctious playfully irreverent salute to Annie Get Your Gun, “Just for You,” has Johnny and Bella trading insults—and declarations—of love-crazed abandon. “I slept with another guy, just for you,” she belts. He retorts, deadpan: “Shot a man and watched him die, just for you.” It’s a love song with a body count, and somehow it works. The clever book is composed almost entirely of rhyming couplets, reminding us of the connection to Shakespeare’s original work.
Gabbie Adner and Christopher Karbo
Aaron Gibbs performs Johnny with the perfect combination of sex appeal and confusion, his voice flying in the musical’s largest ballads. As the young nun, the passionately devoted Gabby Adner displays a sense of comedy along with a crystal clear lyric Broadway soprano voice. Christopher Karbo is great, hamming it up as the villainous German governor. Mustached Daniel A. Stevens is the affable sheriff to a tee. Tall-drink-of-water Aaron Gibbs is perfectly cast as Johnny Blood, and wows with some belted notes. Madison Miyuki Sprague is a riot as Bella Rose, the saloon girl with a soft spot for Johnny. Jason Whitton has lots of fun playing jailed Irish drunk Father Morse (and several other parts). The cast commits fully to the silliness and there’s a lively energy that never flags. Director Todd Nielsen maintains the frenetic pace, never giving a moment to catch one’s breath. All of it is big, sprawling, and built for laughs.
Gabbie Adner, Daniel A. Stevens, and Madison Miyuki Sprague
Music director Daniel Gary Busby gets vocal highs from his whole cast (and never more so than when Adler’s lovely soprano takes flight in the cabaret showcase-ready “What Is This Feeling”) and conducts and plays keyboard in view upstage with bandmates Michael Higgins (guitar, banjo, mandolin) and Joe Buzzelli (violin, fiddle).
Christopher Karbo and Gabbie Adner
The one downside in the production is Destiny Manewal’s low-budget basic one unit set which fulfills its duty to show various locales but looks like it was borrowed from a local high school. Kim DeShazo’s costumes range from novice nun pure to saloon gal sultry to weathered cowboy comfy to robber baron chic; Donna Ruzika’s lighting, Patty and Gordon Briles’ properties, Anthony Gagliardi’s hair and wig designs, and Dave Mickey’s sound design are solid.
Madison Miyuki Sprague and Aaron Gibbs
There are some minor complaints to be made about the show, like a few jokes that lean on old comedy crutches, and despite their diversity, some of the musical numbers do begin to run together in their loud energy. The show isn’t looking to break rules—it’s here to have fun, as straightforward as that. And at that, it does beautifully.
Gabbie Adner, Daniel A. Stevens, Aaron Gibbs, and Jason Whitton
Desperate Measures is a pedal-to-the-metal joyride, with wit, charm, and showmanship in abundance. If cerebral drama is what you’re in the mood for, look elsewhere. But if you’re hankering for an evening of outrageous fun, saddle up. This one’s a sure bet to leave you grinning.
Daniel A. Stevens and Christopher Karbo
photos by Jordan Gohara
Desperate Measures
International City Theatre at the Beverly O’Neill Theatre
Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, 330 East Seaside Way
Thurs-Sat at 7:30; Sun at 2
ends on March 9, 2025
for tickets ($56 -$59), call 562.436.4610 or visit ICT
