GIVE THE BOOT TO THIS 'IMELDA'.

Byline: Katherine Karlin Correspondent

HOW DO YOU write a musical with a narrative arc that traces one woman's development from a vain, shallow, self-centered young girl to a vain, shallow, self-centered first lady?

This is the challenge facing the creators of ``Imelda,'' an eponymous new musical about the wife of one-time Philippines strongman Ferdinand Marcos, currently on stage at East West Players. Director Tim Dang compensates for his subject's lack of heart by bombarding the audience with nonstop spectacle - songs by composer Nathan Wang and lyricist Aaron Coleman, most of them performed at the same breakneck speed and loud, loud, loud (thanks in part to body mikes that make every sigh and swallow rumble like a simmering volcano).

``Imelda'' is the story of a poor girl from the provinces who, certain she is destined for greatness, maneuvers herself into a loveless marriage with an up-and-coming politician, and manages to turn a blind eye to the suffering of her people while indulging her taste for bling. If it sounds like ``Evita,'' you're right. And just as Che Guevara appeared as a voice of conscience in the earlier musical, opposition Benigno ``Ninoy'' Aquino is on hand to haunt Imelda.

Liza Del Mundo captures Imelda's clueless smile, but, playing a character as deep as a mud puddle, she has no chance to demonstrate her acting chops. The two men in Imelda's life fare better: as Ninoy Aquino, Antoine Reynaldo Diel has a lovely voice, and Giovanni Ortega plays Marcos with the fierce physicality of a mountain lion. Most of the heavy lifting, however, is shouldered by a trio of amazingly energetic muses (Ramona DuBarry, Blythe Matsui and Annie Katsura Rollins) who not only sing and dance the narration but slip in and out of era-specific costumes (wittily designed by Ivy Chou) to mark the passage of time.

This show has the pacing more of a Vegas review than an old-fashioned Broadway musical. Each number is bigger and more booming than the one that precedes it, and Reggie Lee's choreography, which seems to be designed for nondancers, has the requisite head tosses and shimmies. When the show does slow down for a ballad, like the one Imelda sings on discovering her husband's infidelity, we're too alienated from these characters to be moved.

We do see an attempt to transcend the bombast, however, when Aquino's widow, Corazon (Myra Cris Ocenar) sings over her slain husband's body, gripping his signature oversize glasses like a baton, and vows to continue his fight. In her famous yellow dress, Corazon makes the transformation from dowdy housewife to national heroine. The song somehow fails to deliver, but it is a poignant reminder that this musical was written about the wrong woman.

And yes, the shoes. Those old enough to remember will recall the 3,000 pairs of shoes discovered in Imelda's closet after Marcos was ousted in 1986. True to her oblivious nature, Imelda donated the footwear to her own ``shoe museum'' in 1999. Audiences who have been jaded by fictitious Carrie Bradshaw's shoe obsession on HBO's ``Sex and the City'' will fail to be shocked by Imelda's collection, but ``Imelda,'' the musical, pounds this dead horseshoe as incessantly as a blacksmith.

IMELDA - One and one half stars

Where: East West Players, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Little Tokyo.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m Saturday and Sunday; through June 19.

Tickets: $33 to $38. Call [phone] or visit www.eastwestplayers.org.

In a nutshell: A lot of sound and fury about a singularly superficial subject.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Liza Del Mundo plays the shoe-loving, rags-to-riches title character in East West Players' production of ``Imelda.''