'Fairways' has more than its share of bogeys

Steel Beam Theatre has a good reason for taking another swing at "Fairways," the golf-inspired musical that premiered there in 2006 and is being remounted by the St. Charles company to kick off its 10th anniversary season.

Conceived by a golf enthusiast for golf enthusiasts, "Fairways" ranks among the company's most popular productions. Judging from the knowing chuckles that accompanied the opening night performance, it clearly resonates with Steel Beam's audience.

But that doesn't earn a recommendation for this subpar salute from book writer and lyricist Mary Hutchings Reed (sister of artistic director Donna Steele) and composer Curt Powell, which comes across as the theatrical equivalent of a slice: golf-speak for a poor shot.

The scenes are weak, character interaction feels forced and the frothy romantic subplot is half-baked at best. That said, Powell's pop-centered score - with its smattering of R&B, swing, hip-hop and Caribbean - is pleasant enough. In fact, several of the lighthearted sendups of the game and its aficionados have real charm and the rousing "Leader Board Blues" sung by Marcus C. Gentry works like a shot of adrenaline. Unfortunately it doesn't come until the middle of the second act, past the point of reviving this anemic show.

The musical opens in the 12th century with a group of Scottish rustics inadvertently inventing the game of golf, including the tradition of the 19th hole. The action flashes forward to a modern day golf course where two passionate players try to pass on their love of the game to their apathetic children.

Betsy O'Neill (Mary Hobein) wants her workaholic daughter Kathy (Erika Grotto) to learn the game so they can challenge Betsy's arch rival Nancy (Dana Bone Teichart) and her daughter Joan (Abby Stark) for the club's mother-daughter title. On another part of the golf course, Sam Mackay (Greg Zawada) begs his father (Jim Heatherly) to teach him to play so that he can impress his new boss, Henry (Gentry).

Gentry's gregarious executive, Peter Silpa's Zen-master pro and Luke Donia's obliging caddie stand out in a production where several performances need polishing. However, music director Jeremy Ramey, who handled the same duties for 2009's "Wild Goat," earns kudos along with fellow musicians Pete Steele and David Orlicz. Their trio is the biggest asset of a show that could benefit from an overhaul.

The problem is the format. "Fairways" - with its inside jokes and songs about course etiquette, score card tampering and new equipment improving a player's game - would fare much better as a revue. Freeing the show from its hackneyed plot and stilted dialogue and whittling it down to a few numbers might be the key to taking "Fairways" from the rough to the green.