Legally Blind: The Helen Keller Musical

There is more than one dragon onstage in "Legally Blind: the Helen Keller Musical," the musical mash-up that the Gold Dust Orphans are serving up at Machine through May 22. One is of the mythical Chinese variety - a foo dog come-to-life - with an enormous dildo that protrudes in ways that made it difficult for him to walk in the aisle. (At one point, it was inches away from my face). The other is found in the person of Annie Sullivan (Ryan Landry), the no-nonsense teacher of the blind made famous for bringing Helen Keller (Jessica Barstis) into the world in "The Miracle Worker."

But in the latest Orphans' show Annie Sullivan has somehow wandered into "Gypsy," the classic musical about the most famous of stage mothers - Rose, the mother of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. In that show, Rose pushes her younger daughter June onto the stage, while ignoring her eldest Louise; when June takes off her own, Rose pushes Louise down a path that leads her to become the highest paid performer in all burlesque. In this one, Annie Sullivan more or less adopts the teenage Keller, taking her on the road as road as she pushes her more talented daughter Baby Solange (Qya Marie) into stardom. She cares for Helen, but can't get through to her. Helen, can you hear me?

When she makes that connection late in the first act, Sullivan becomes obsessed with the idea of making Helen a burlesque star, the novelty of the act being that she's deaf and blind, and that she puts her clothes back on when she strips. She does become a star, but the wily Sullivan keeps the nature of her act from her: Helen thinks she just dressing for bed. Even her boyfriend - an Asian waiter named Tung Fock (Tim Lawton) - can't tell her the truth because if he does, that mythical dragon will fuck him up the ass. Having that dildo in my face, I can understand his anxiety.

Ryan Landry, who wrote the book and lyrics and stars as Sullivan, has long shown himself to be master of fusing outrageous elements into a comic whole. Middle East politics and "The King and I"; Albee's "Virginia Woolf" told as the Nativity story; even finding a way to put Hitchcock's "The Birds" onto the tiny stage of Machine. When the alchemy happens, it's genius; but when it doesn't, as in the case with "Legally Blind," the mix misses the sweet spot.

I suppose there are numerous reasons as to why. The staging (credited to Tim Lawton) misses the snap that has distinguished earlier Orphans productions; the writing, clever as it is, doesn't fully exploit the outrageous concept, but offers a slavish parody of Arthur Laurents' book to "Gypsy"; even the choreography, a bright spot in recent Orphans shows, lacks polish. Worse, the studied amateurism that makes Orphans' shows delightful just feels amateurish here, which only contributed to the sense that the show is, at this point, a lumpy mess. Perhaps the Orphans just had a bad night, but whatever the reason, that sense of inspired lunacy has yet to gel.

Which is too bad, because there are some bright spots along the way: Jessica Barstis spends a good deal of the time feeling her way across the stage as Helen, but when she finds her voice in the first-act showstopper "Legally Blind" (sung to Sondheim's "Being Alive"), it is breathtaking. The vocal pyro-techniques continue later when she duets with Tim Lawton for their take on "Suddenly Seymour," here a witty play on the song's title. There's a funny bit involving the Flinstones' theme, and Qya Marie skillfully channels Whitney Houston, though haven't we seen this impersonation before?

As Landry has shown in the past, he is a supple lyricist with a gift for shoehorning his words onto show tunes with considerable skill. Especially funny is the second-act opening that twists Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Happy Talk," here turned into a number about how Helen learns to communicate using her hands. And there are some fun touches in Scott Martino's costumes, be they dancing eyeballs or Vegas-styled strippers. But the use of an Asian-American stereotype of the owner of a Chinese restaurant (gamely played by Sarah Jones) wears out its welcome early on. The kind of humor that was funny on MAD-TV fifteen years ago is less so today.

Landry's performance as Sullivan appears inspired by Rosalind Russell's take on Rose from the musical's film version. He nails her buttoned-up, prudish nature, but doesn't capture her charm (something Russell does in the film), which makes this characterization hard and emotionally remote. He has no vulnerability, so you feel little empathy when everyone walks out on her.

What's dulled here is Landry's usual rapport with the audience, with which he makes them co-conspirators with his often nasty, over-the-top characters. In "Gypsy," Rose breaks your heart; in "Legally Blind," Annie Sullivan does not. Why should we care for her at all when she sings an abbreviated version of "Rose's Turn?" Add to this a tacked-on solo for Helen that ends the show on a most inconclusive note and you come to the sad conclusion that the magic eludes the Orphans this time around.

Legally Blind: The Helen Keller Musical runs through Sunday May 22. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8pm and Sunday afternoon at 5pm. At Machine, 1254 Boylston Street, Boston. For more information, visit the Gold Dust Orphans Facebook page.