Pizza is an unalloyed good. Nothing bad happens when the word ‘pizza’ is involved. To paraphrase and update an old 1970’s advertising slogan: ‘Nobody doesn’t like pizza’.

With it being served as an ‘appetizer’–a first for this humble scribe– for a Thursday afternoon theatrical adventure–also another first–then how will the main course–a staged reading of the musical ‘Mike & Mindy’s Wild Weekend Jam’, presented by Eye on the Mark Productions–affect the various palates of theater-goers everywhere?

Well…

There is much to admire–and a few things to be less admirable about–in this crafty staged reading, directed by Scott Werntz.

First, the good news–the ‘music’ part of this musical is, for the most part, spot on. Written by the lion’s share part of the present-day line up of  the Righteous Brothers Bucky Heard & Timothy D. Lee, the music is catchy, hummable, life-affirming, vibrant, and possessing a multitude of various sounds and styles. While it is always hard for a theater critic to adequately describe the pros and cons of music–since it’s almost exclusively an auditory experience, not a literal one–there is no question the music is top-tier, and worthy of the stage…or a record store, or an MP3 player, or the CD player in your car.

The obvious high point of the afternoon musically was the sparkling duet between the father-in-law Don (well played by Carmen Romano) and his son-in-law Mike (really well played by Austin Michael), having a musical debate about the virtues of dreams, and of lost opportunity. There are unusually clever lyrics in this song (“Pipe Dreams”), since Don is in the plumbing business; and the double-entendre is original and eye-catching. It happens about half way through the play, and certainly provides the possible springboard for dramatic fireworks down the road.

There was also a very funny sequence where Mike’s odd ball, tap-dancing parents (fervently played by Peggy Lee Brennan and Geoffrey Hastings Haberer), a middle-aged suburban couple who slip into rap mode, to stall the producer, and keep the Feydeau Farce moving.

More good news–Mr. Werntz has orchestrated just about the smartest, slickest staged reading ever mounted–not only is there no question he has cast the musical just about perfectly, but has also navigated the tricky business of presenting a ‘staged reading’ effectively. Most of these readings (for would-be backers or producers or ‘angels’, sometimes to gauge how well a play or musical would fare artistically) are boring, cluttered, sloppy, amateurish affairs, but not so in this case. He has also assembled an absolutely  outstanding group of actors and actresses, led by the remarkably talented Bethany McDonald in one of the leads, to bring the most inner-life truth to the characters as set forth by the playwrights.

It would appear, by the bios on the website, that this is Mr. Corallo’s and Ms. Nelson’s first play. Bravo to that, always. It takes a considerable amount of courage to stick your neck out artistically in front of total strangers who are paying large sums of money and want something tangible in return.

The cast from soup to nuts is so very talented, they successfully brought out the truth of all the characters. Certainly, the musical is well-meaning, and has its heart n the right place–don’t give up on your dreams. It has the music to back that notion up, in an admirable, first-class way. Now, let’s see if the ‘book’ part of the musical can be brought up to speed, and perhaps we have a Broadway-bound winner, and a flag-bearer for future shows.