What the Blonds Prefer

The title may sound antiquated, yet the 1949 musical “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” was never really about what gentlemen want.

It’s about what the siren Lorelei Lee wants--to bag a wealthy husband. And the practice of screening potential spouses for their moola has not been completely banished from the 21st century--or from certain social strata in L.A.

So while the fizzy Reprise! revival of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse, is set in the ‘20s, it isn’t from a completely different universe. That’s why a surprising percentage of the jokes hit their targets--that, plus the fact that they’re delivered by Alice Ripley.

Ripley plays Lorelei, who was created on stage by Carol Channing and played in the much more familiar 1953 movie by Marilyn Monroe.

Ripley is no Monroe clone, but her looks are, well, charismatic. She could ignite a sudden interest in musical comedy among certain heterosexual men.

Some of her poses adopt the Monroe style. She narcissistically sings “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” in front of a full-length mirror, while two hunky guys keep enhancing her initially skimpy outfit with additional items of glittery jewelry, each of which sparks little paroxysms of pleasure.

Still, Ripley wisely shuns Monroe’s breathy vocal quality. This is a stage musical, after all--its star needs a bigger sound, which Ripley delivers, even adding a quasi-bluesy growl occasionally.

The stage Lorelei is also a somewhat more substantial character than the movie version. The stage script was written by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos, and this Lorelei tells us more of her personal history--she shot a cad back home in Arkansas. She’s less of a cream puff. And near the end, Lorelei executes some financial wizardry that would have baffled her movie counterpart.

It would still be a mistake to use this production as a fund-raiser for the National Organization for Women. But even NOW members might enjoy an exchange in which the heir Henry Spofford (Hugh Panaro) discusses how he might have to get a job. When his girlfriend (Valarie Pettiford, in the Jane Russell role from the movie) sympathizes, he points out that she works (as a chorine). Of course, she replies--she’s a girl. Pettiford, whose long limbs and sultry voice are best known from “Fosse,” smoothly handles the tart retorts of Lorelei’s loyal but less venal friend.

Panaro’s role isn’t as interesting as the two very different roles into which it was divided in the movie; here he’s simply an Arrow Shirt-style straight-shooter. Spofford’s main dramatic attribute is that his voice “sure packs a wallop,” says his girlfriend, and Panaro’s tenor meets those expectations.

A handful of supporting players enhances the comedy. Ian Abercrombie is at his most elfin as an English sugar daddy, while Ruth Williamson successfully staggers through the role of his sloshed wife. Tom Beyer projects scrappy resilience as Lorelei’s rich beau, and Greg Zerkle is amusingly pompous as his rival. The script also gets off some licks about their business rivalry--Beyer’s character is a button company heir, while Zerkle’s big lug is attempting to dethrone buttons with the newfangled zipper. Kimberly Lyon generates a few chuckles as an oddball chorus girl who practices her dancing nonstop.

Dixieland orchestrations of the sprightly Jule Styne and Leo Robin score and Bill Hargate’s spangly costumes place the action in the ‘20s at its most roaring. In a Reprise! first, the onstage band is on two moving platforms, allowing more flexibility for director John Bowab’s blocking.

Bowab and musical director Peter Matz streamlined the script, replacing the character of Spofford’s mother with references to his father, who is represented only by a big snoring sound effect. They also enlisted an audience member to speak two lines as the minister in the climactic wedding.

That wedding is supposed to be followed by a brief reprise of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” but on opening night a premature lighting blackout precluded it, making the final moment of the show seem abrupt.

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“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” Freud Playhouse, northeast corner of UCLA, West L.A., enter from Hilgard Avenue. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends March 17. $55-$60. (310) 825-2101. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Alice Ripley...Lorelei Lee

Valarie Pettiford...Dorothy Shaw

Hugh Panaro...Henry Spofford

Ian Abercrombie...Sir Francis Beekman/ Mr. Esmond

Ruth Williamson...Lady Phyllis Beekman

Tom Beyer...Gus Esmond

Greg Zerkle...Josephus Gage

Kimberly Lyon...Gloria Stark

Rod Keller...Robert Lemanteur

Jeffrey Schecter...Louis Lemanteur

Lance Roberts, Abe Sylvia...The Coles

Music by Jule Styne. Lyrics by Leo Robin. Book by Anita Loos and Joseph Fields, adapted by John Bowab and Peter Matz. Directed by Bowab. Musical direction by Matz. Choreographed by Alan Johnson. Set by Ray Klausen. Costumes by Bill Hargate. Lighting by Tom Ruzika. Sound by Philip G. Allen. Stage manager Jill Gold.