Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens

"Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens" at the Ark Theatre is comically sharp but musically flat. Despite that, there's much to charm in this offbeat disco musical.

Created in 1995 for the Edinburgh Festival, "Jack" is very much a collaborative effort, with a book by Charlotte Mann, lyrics by Mann and Michael Fidler, music by Jonathan Croose and Robin Forest, and additional music by Adam Meggido and James Compton. Oh, did we mention it is based on original ideas by Fidler, Mann, Johanna Allitt and Simon Curtis?

In this case, too many cooks spice up the soup, and throw in the kitchen sink. A spiritual descendant of "Rocky Horror," this retro-futuristic glitter musical is a cheerfully over-the-top camp fest for mature audiences. Set on the planet of Frottage III, the action takes place entirely in a seedy little nightclub, where the dregs -- make that drags -- of the galaxy congregate for outré intermingling of every persuasion.

Cross-dressing, gender-bending and just plain kinky, the club's denizens include Booby (Joshua Grant), a drag queen waitress of linebacker proportions, Sammy (James Celentano), a sax player who yearns for stardom, and Mitch (Peter Ross Stephens), a bartender with a plastic fetish. Then there's a sociologist (Chairman Barnes) with his own peculiar penchants, and Chesty (Lena Coleman), a lesbian space smuggler. Presiding over all is Saucy Jack (perfectly piratical Rob MacMullan), a switch-hitting secret serial slayer.

When the crime-fighting Space Vixens, (Julie Hogan, Tracy Rohrer and Danika Sudik) arrive at Jack's to investigate a string of murders, Jack's evil thrall just may be bump-and-grinding to a halt.

Daniel Gary Busby's staging is fast-paced and fun, but there is no program credit for a musical director, and although Busby has many musical direction credits himself, one was clearly needed. Carlos Jones' choreography is simple yet effectively naughty, while costumes by Robert Prosser and John Roberts are fabulously cheeky in the most literal sense. With a few notable exceptions, these actors are not gifted vocalists. But their comic timing is usually right on pitch. If you like disco and glitz, ignore the occasional clunker. You'll have a rollicking good time.