Centerstage - Chicago's Original City Guide

First, take a 1954 Maxwell Anderson play-cum-1956 Mervyn LeRoy-directed film about a seemingly perfect little girl and her psychologically imbalanced mother. Then, cast all the male roles with women in terrible toupees and 5 o'clock stage makeup shadow, and put heels, wigs, skirts and generous foundation on the male actors after injecting them with eau d' Joan Crawford, Joan Collins and Joan Rivers. Lastly, throw in a few musical numbers, along with a simple and effective set and you have the makings of a very memorable Friday night with Corn Productions' "The Bad Seed the Musical" at the Bailiwick Arts Center.

"The Bad Seed" is the cult classic tale of a young mother, Christine (Todd Schaner), troubled by nightmares of her childhood and further troubled with the nightmarish revelation that her too-good-to-be-true, pink frocked, angelic daughter, Rhoda (Robert Bouwman), is the remorseless murderess of a neighborhood child.

True, it is an already campy story. And true, it is now set to music and wrought with gender bending, dramatic flare. But the play only gets better and better and better with every spoken "internal monologue," lesbian undertone, reference (and toast) to alcoholism and blatant implication of grisly murder at the hands of a fortyish man dressed as a ten year old girl.

With truffles, tap dancing, cross dressing, sexual deviants, good ol' gasping-blouse clenching boozy melodrama and a period-inappropriate dance number that would do Big Hair bands proud, the moments are far from dull and you'll wish you'd invited fifteen of your closest friends to share in the revelry, hilarity and vulgarity. See this show immediately not only to support a deserving cast but to treat yourself to the most lurid, twisted, brilliant, naughty humor this side of a wine drenched Thanksgiving with your family.

At Bailiwick Arts Center; 1229 W. Belmont Ave.; (773) 883-1090; $20. Through Nov. 11; 9:30 p.m. Friday