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The new libretto, prepared and directed by Ratner, has Leona letching after one of her hotel employees, the bellhop Fritz, who's madly in love with Wanda, one of the chambermaids. Once Leona learns that Fritz has married Wanda, she conspires with Boom, her palace general, Puck, her advisor, and Harry, her hotel-magnate suitor, to chop him to bits. The bass role of Gen. Grog is eliminated, while several musical nips and tucks bring the show in at a crisp two hours.
The broadly choreographed action mines the naughty double-entendres and sitcom-style one-liners for all their mirth. Topical references to such iconographic '90s objects as fax machines, personal trainers and sexual-harassment suits are sprinkled through the text like raisins in a pudding. Sophisticated? Hardly. Funny and entertaining? You bet.
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