The New York Fringe Festival’s single big gest success story is “Urinetown,” which not only made it to Broadway in 2001, but won Tonys for best book and best score. So when that show’s creators, Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, brought their latest baby, “Yeast Nation (The Triumph of Life),” to this year’s Fringe, the entire run sold out before it even started.
Having beloved comedienne Harriet Harris (“Thoroughly Modern Millie,” TV’s “Frasier”) onboard didn’t hurt, either.
If you couldn’t snag a seat, fear not: The show, now at La MaMa, will probably get an encore in the near future. In the meantime, perhaps Hollmann and Kotis will hit that “delete” key, because right now, the fun musical lurking inside “Yeast Nation” is smothered under too much self-indulgent flab.
Whereas “Urinetown” was set in an alternate universe in which people must pay to pee, “Yeast Nation” takes place under the sea a long time ago — so long that the characters are simply yeast, all of them going by Jan.
As co-lyricist, book writer and director, Kotis doesn’t exploit this premise to its fullest, and aside from a couple of “Monty Python”-esque scenes, the show isn’t nearly as wacky as you’d expect.
Narrated by Jan the Unnamed (Harris, in a frenzy of flailing, hissing, growling, eye-rolling overacting), the plot is your basic struggle-for-power tale, with a dash of hanky-panky among yeastie boys and girls.
The most entertaining bits pit romantic pair Jan the Sweet (Emily Tarpey) and Jan the Second (Erik Altemus) against the machinations of his conniving sister Jan the Sly (Joy Suprano) and her sneaky acolyte Jan the Wise (Manu Narayan, from “Bombay Dreams”). All four bring unfailing energy, charm and comic chops to their parts, and are in superior voice — overall, this is the most professional Fringe cast in recent memory.
Hollmann confirms his natural flair for pop melodies, which makes it easy to overlook how weak his and Kotis’ lyrics are.
What’s harder to stomach is the absurd quantity of songs — it feels as if there’s one every five minutes in the 2½-hour show. After a while they become interchangeable, and wreck the pacing. Cells shouldn’t always be allowed to multiply.
elisabeth.vincentelli
@nypost.com