“Valet’’ follows three young, um, ladies on their troubled, pill-popping journeys through the seamy underbelly - among other body parts - of show business. Much of “Valet’’ is fall-off-your-chair funny (though bluenoses should probably stay home). Double- and maybe even triple-entendres abound.
What makes it so enjoyable is not just that Landry & Co. will do anything for a laugh - though they will - but that through their campy excess shines a palpable love of performance.
Professionalism, too. They manage to keep up with the helter-skelter pace set by director James P. Byrne, who creates a constant flow of action that makes the most of limited space. One minute the stage might be alive with the go-go gyrations of “The Jacqueline Susann Dancers’’; the next might bring a flurry of sight gags (including an allusion to “The Exorcist’’) or the arrival of foul-mouthed puppets (my favorite was the Paul Lynde sound-alike).
Scott Martino’s lavish costumes, a riot of sequins and feathers, virtually put on a performance all their own. On one occasion, an outfit literally stopped the show, as the appearance of a character in a stunning gold gown and matching pillbox hat brought audience members to their feet.
At the center of “Valet’’ is Anne Wells (played by Afrodite). Anne has many dreams, and, as the evening progresses, many hairstyles. In search of a fulfilling career and, of course, true love, she has somehow made it all the way from Mattapan to Boylston Street (about, oh, five miles).
Her quest is complicated by an unfortunate case of Tourette syndrome that causes her to blurt out the naughtiest words imaginable at the least opportune moments imaginable. Yet Anne does not suit the action to the word, thank you very much. She is determined to keep her virtue, for a while anyway, despite the depredations of the caddish Lion Burke (Chris Loftus).
Will Anne ever be able to tame Lion, and will she find happiness by making it onto, if not a marquee, at least a billboard for a chain of parking garages?
