The mood was celebratory, and the theme was "Girls Night" Tuesday evening at the Overture Center, and there was no shortage of capris, painted toenails and fast-paced chatter.  As the crowd bottlenecked through the single set of doors into the Capitol Theater, it entered a disco wonderland with ABBA and Blondie tunes blaring over the loudspeakers and doughnut shaped lights swirling over the set of pink, purple and baby blue.

The small number of bewildered men scattered throughout the crowd must have suspected what they were in for when they agreed to a show titled "Girls Night: The Musical."  Packed with anthems such as "I'm Every Woman" and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and topics ranging from starter bras to tampons to pregnancy, this show is strictly geared toward girlfriends.

The musical, written four years ago by Louise Roche, would be strikingly similar to "Desperate Housewives" were it set in a karaoke / dance bar with the wives singing Gloria Gaynor songs between soapy plotlines.  The five 30- to 40-something characters included the neuotic, Prozac-popping one; the tightly tied, somewhat awkward one; the prissy and guarded one; the bold and sexy one; and the omniscient, omnipresent dead one sporting glittery wings and acting as the party's MC.

The plot was a knee-deep-in-syrup mix of past and present drama involving friendships and relationships, with lots of frank girl talk that prompted frequent laughter from the audience that filled the theater near capacity.  Popluar songs were planted along the storyline and woven into the drama as characters climbed atop the karaoke stage or a table to belt out the lyrics.  Like in any complete musical dancing was present, too, but less choreographed and more of the goofy, robotic and disco variety, which was funny and refreshing.

The cast tried to engage the audience to join in the singing and dancing after intermission, and while they played along for a while, the audience was a little reluctant.  However, by the end of the show and the two encore songs, the cast had the audience on it's feet clapping and dancing along to "Man I Feel Like A Woman" and other songs.

The songs were the showpieces, and the cast performed them well and with unique personality.  Particularly engaging was Danielle Wetzel, who played the awkward little sister Kate, who sang a "drunken" though vocally well-controlled rendition of "Cry Me A River" while sprawled across a bar table.

The songs, characters and comedy were fairly well presented as separate pieces, but the musical never completely gelled.  The four living characters, supposedly lifelong friends, lacked a comfortable chemistry among them, and jumps from scene to song and back were not always seamless.  On top of everything missed microphone cues and inconsistent volumes from the sound booth caused frequent distractions and perhaps will smooth out for the remaining two weeks of performances.

While "Girls Night" is not as polished as some of the larger traveling musicals that have run at the Overture Center, it does fill a niche that other shows don't, and its target audience seemed to relate and enjoy themselves.  Those seeking fine wine and white tablecloths had best find another restaurant, but for girlfriends who want to throw back a martini or two and kick up their painted toenails, "Girls Night" might be the ticket.

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