Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun: The Musical

The song "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" was Julie Brown's ode to 1950s and '60s teen tragedy songs like "Teen Angel," "Last Kiss," and "The Leader of the Pack" with a massive dose of camp to offset the calamity. It was only a minor hit back in the '80s but it endured, and Brown has now co-written and co-produced a stage show based on the tune.

Because the song tells a story, the adaptation has a lot of material to pull from, which it does while also doing it justice and expanding upon it in an organic way. Brown plays Julie (natch), a student in 1985 at Betty Ford High who is best friends with Debbie (Drew Droege), the most popular girl in school -- and who is also a total bee-yotch. And she just gets bee-yotchier once the spirit of a girl who died 20 years earlier takes over her body. That's when things REALLY get crazy.

Brown was there at the birth of the Valley Girl era (having been born and raised in the San Fernando Valley herself, she knows of what she Valspeaks) and she and director Kurt Koehler wrote a smartly silly script and populated it with archetypes that play up the stereotypes in a campy, colorful fashion. (It's hard to place any story in the '80s without it being campy and colorful.)

The costumes and wigs are on point and everyone gives it their all with winks and nods to everything '80s (changing Guns 'n' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" to "Welcome to the Home Room" and Air Supply's power ballad "Making Love Out of Nothing At All" to "I'm Going to Kill Them All," for example, in addition to references to other gems like Tony Basil's "Mickey," Klymaxx's "Meeting in the Ladies Room," and Jermaine Stewart's "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off").

Brown and Droege are supported by Debbie's bohunk of a boyfriend, Brad (Chris Pudlo); school punching bag Ingrid (Jaci Pund; think "Heathers'" Martha Dumptruck), who has been nominated for Homecoming Queen as a nasty joke; Johnny (Keir Kirkegaard), the studly nerd who always has food in his teeth; Julie's soooooo gay "boyfriend" Jazon (Sam Pancake); and two air-headed and ruthless cheerleaders, Mitzy (Beth Crosby) and Buffy (Natalie Lander).

Droege, probably best known for his impersonation of Oscar-nominated actress and fashion icon Chlo� Sevigny, is a hoot as Debbie. She's such a megabitch it's almost hard to tell the difference once she becomes possessed, but he gives her layers of, if not complexity, at least of bitchiness. And Crosby and Lander in particular do a fantastic job infusing real humor into what could have been just empty-headed bimbos. They get solid material and they deliver with every line.

The humor is knowing and sometimes meta and always raunchy (like Brad's jokes about fish tacos -- they may be obvious but that doesn't mean they're not funny). With minimal props and sets and a very small stage to work on, "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" is a fun night out and a perfect supernatural fit for Halloween. And with all the mass shootings marring our nation, it can also open up a discussion about where we are and where we're headed. The best comedy always says something about society.

*Note that the theater is downstairs of the Casita del Campo restaurant and the show only runs again this coming weekend.*

"The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" runs through October 21 at the Cavern Club Theater at Casita del Campo Restaurant, 1920 Hyperion Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027. For tickets or information, visit JulieBrown.tix.com

This story is part of our special report: "10 Days of Halloween". Want to read more? Here's the full list.