It’s ‘60s Time again at Twister Beach

Gabriella Scherrer in Twister Beach (John Cornicello)

Twister Beach

Marxiano Prods. and Café Nordo

Through July 30, 2016

I had this imaginary scene in my head: Mark Siano and Opal Peachey were sitting around saying, “Hey, we have this giant hammer head shark costume and this giant whale costume… Let’s write a mini-musical called Twister Beach for Café Nordo!” Turns out I had it backward. They actually decided to make enormous costumes of a hammer head shark and a whale for their new musical dinner extravaganza!

If you have any wish to see an enormously silly conversation about killing people between a hammer head shark and a whale, while eating great and interesting food and watching various Frankie and Annette types cavort in bathing suits while preparing for a talent show, then Twister Beach is exactly what the diner ordered!

This is a retro show with favorite songs of the ‘60s and ‘70s – and a few more modern ones from Tyler (Andrew Murray) and Sam (Devin Bannon). But it’s got plenty of 2016 twists (see what I did there?) where the culture cluelessness of the ‘60s is updated for ’16 sensibilities. So, instead of all straight couples, we get Tyler and Sam who are a committed Gay couple. But Sam wants a “hall pass” so they can have a threesome with a (gasp) woman! Will Tyler go along as his “guy” friend?

They set their sights on Marsha (Varsha Raghavan) and Sandy (Katya Davida Landau), who don’t notice the men are Gay, so Sandy goes along with the adventure. Marsha takes a walk on the beach where she saves famous Jonny Greenwood (Andre Nelson) from being eaten by … a hammer head shark! Of course, then she thinks she deserves a bit more of his attention, but he’d rather just be left alone.

The rest of the resort crew, Bubblegum (Sydney Tucker), Carmen (Gabriela Scherrer), and Gidget (Tanya Brno), help with the talent show. They lend some surprising choices to the show, which enlivens the fun.

There are audience participation opportunities. Do you like to limbo? What about dancing in the aisles? Go with a fun attitude and you’ll clap along and hoot and holler and drink. The VIP dinner menu has a terrific tiki drink – you’ll probably wish it came a lot earlier in the evening though, since it packs a punch and it’s pretty close to when you have to leave the beach and drag home.

You do have a choice of whether to get the full meal deal. You can go and see the show and have most of the fun, order great summer drinks from the fully loaded bar, and have a great time.

The VIP menu starts off with tiny drinks like a mini margarita or a mini pina colada, and unlimited chips and dip. Their stonefruit (tastes like mango) chutney is a fun way to dip. There is a pork dish or a veggie skewer on top of fried rice cakes which were crunchy and satisfying (though I wish the cakes had a sauce or seasoning to dip ‘em in). Dessert, besides the enormous tiki drink, is a tiny chocolate/mint tart.

If it’s been a tense and difficult few weeks, this might well be the way to lighten the load and escape to where the dilemma is: to twist standing up or in your chair! Just stay away from that hungry hammer head!

For more information, go to www.cafenordo.com.