Gary Waldman & Jamison Troutman presented BUNGALOW BUNNIES, a musical by Gary Waldman at the Wilton Playhouse, Fort Lauderdale, FL (2000) ... the following is a review published in Hollywood []"It's Showtime"...

October 23, 2000 | It’s Showtime

Bungalow Bunnies is a hit at the Wilton Playhouse

By: Dona Kay

Perky, adorable, animated, hip-hop-itty fun that will spin your head to laughter and maybe a memory or two is this world premiere showcase. “Bungalow Bunnies” sets a frantic pace at the Wilton Manors Playhouse for the Fall/Winter season and what a show it is!

The stage is ablaze with many childhood antics (compliments of the adults once in us all), and the “swat” power is electric as a remembrance of the summer heat of the Catskills takes over.

Written and directed by Gary Waldman. Who gave us “Meet Me at the Pitkin” several seasons back, “Bungalow Bunnies” reflects Waldman’s youth and those glorious days of summer spent in the mountains.

Waldman’s tunes are catchy in this musical spoof. Take “Ruby the Knish Man” that takes on a resemblance of Fiddler’s “If I Were a Rich Man,: or “Milton’s Lament” of ambition richly taking over yet another “Fiddler” classic … this one, “Tradition.” Oh, my word! Oh the laughter! Oh the expressions of it all!

What a collective sextet of performers giving their all. Oscar Cheda is Milton, slop-happy to his white-lipped bathing suit beauty (don’t believe it) of a wife, Rose (Gail Byers). Elias Eliadis (Heshy Kishenefsky, try to say that twice fast) goes orange-haired with mugging attributes to wife, hair-in-rollers, Frieda (Stacy Schwartz, a scene stealer). Debbie Campbell is cutesy as Ida Sipowitz to hubby George Contini who, in the role of Moe, may resemble a moderate Jessie “the former body” Ventura. (Just ask me for the photo!).

As previously mentioned, the “Noo Yawkers” visiting the mountains in the 70’s are a clever, lyrical bunch who enlighten Waldman’s reflections. Take some of the other song titles, “There’s Something Fishy,” “The Man Selling Shoes,” “The Pickle King Song,” to “Rainy Day Blues.”

In the golden days of memories, you had to dip in your pocket and go to the bingo games, perhaps to win a dime or two or three. And, of course, you had to try to sneak into the once popular and populated floor show. In the “star” quality show, there’s many a take-off like the Married Sisters with vocals favoring the famed Barry Sisters. Campbell & Schwartz are a songful combination, complete with not only the vocals, but the complimenting movements. I can tell you this, you’ve never heard a version of “Send in the Clowns” quite like this – cheers for the parodies and we mustn’t fail to mention the added Freddie Roman humor, which Cheda elates.

You’ll get an earful in “Bungalow Bunnies,” a chipper funzie if ever there was. Have fun visiting the former summer retreat of Catskill overload.