Take thousands of songs from hundreds of stars who played over the span of almost eight years at a now-mythical showplace in Green Bay, distill them to what will work for Let Me Be Frank Productions, and you have "The Carlton West."

The show is a flashback to 1977 to 1986, with quirky fictional characters, as Carlton workers, placed into situations where they break into song backstage. 

The Carlton was a real place.  The parade of stars was real.  The hit songs in the show were (are) the stars. 

But the show isn’t a lineup of star imitations.  Songs are sung to the comfort level of the Frank’s singers. 

Sample section: Four songs of Bobby Vinton are sung by Lisa Andre, Kelly Haddad, Emily Paulsen and vocal coach Amy Riemer.  The women take turns singing lead, with the others adding color in harmonies.  They dance.  A light show plays.  Feeding the action is the band - Heath Hermans, drums; Pat Hibbard, bass; Dennis Panneck, guitar; and Kent Paulsen, keyboards. 

A Sha Na Na segment opens the show, with Paul Evansen, David Gusloff and Frank Hermans pouring out doo-wop and high harmonies. 

Also in the show are songs of Tom Jones, The Kingston Trio, The Manhattan Transfer, Johnny Rivers, Anne Murray, Connie Stevens, Dionne Warwick, Paul Anka, The Lettermen, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Marie Osmond, Del Shannon, Peter Noone and others. 

Frank Hermans plays Sandi, the Carlton bar manager, in one of his out-there characterizations.  He wears a long, blond mullet wig, moves like a girl and speaks in effeminate ways. 

Hibbard’s character has a secret and plays bass in the backstage band (a ridiculous setup for the sake of the singing).  Near the end, the audience is treated to the re-creation of a routine of the comedian Gallagher, including playing around with the Veg-O-Matic bit with Tom Verbrick as a thick-as-a-brick roadie. 

The show is crammed with stuff, most importantly, wonderful singing. 

4 stars out of 4

Let Me Be Frank Productions has a little tougher time than usual in blending songs of an era into an antic-filled story in "Frank Stock 2," set in 1986. 

Shallower lyrics? Maybe.  Heavier production? Maybe.  Glitz over style? Maybe. 

The show still is a showcase of vocal firepower — this time with layers of backup vocals — in front of a do-all band of Dennis Panneck, guitar; Heath Hermans, drums; Tony Pilz, keyboards; and Pat Hibbard, bass. 

After a first act of trying to shoehorn suitable songs into a meandering story that’s too talky at the start and abundant potty humor around a coarsely comic name, the show settles into a concert with light shows, dancing, big voices, gaudy costumes and some flashy action in the band. 

The story is about musicians who hold a 10-year reunion and decide to get together again for a "worldwide Wisconsin tour.  " The first concert is for the Brillion Civic Association. 

The first showstopper is a sight gag.  Playing a lounge act, Frank Hermans and Paul Evansen finish a tune and their show and then take off their iridescent jumpsuits.  Imagine: White shorts and gold lame briefs.  That’s it. 

An uninhibited aura rolls through the dialogue as well.  Call it a trademark. 

Lead singing often is of the powerhouse variety. 

Amy Riemer spices such songs as "Enough is Enough" and "Heartbreaker.  " Frank Hermans’ versatility ranges from accents to singing whatever with energy to being a giant personality. 

Hibbard leads the rocking in "Turn Up the Radio.  " Evansen character-sings "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" Emily Paulsen nails the slow, smoky "Black Velvet.  " Lisa Andre electrifies "Love Will Lead You Back.  "

A ton of work went into this show.  Each song is a production unto itself.  The second act is one bolt of energy after another. 

Amy Riemer opens the show with the yearning, “Maybe It Was Memphis,” filling the Meyer Theatre with her lustrous voice as a light show radiates around her. 

Frank Hermans bursts in “Patches,” an old achy song about a kid forced to grow up.  Paul Evansen lurks as an oily salesman.  Pat Hibbard flashes dumb-as-a-brick looks. 

It’s another Let Me Be Frank Productions show, brimming with beauty around an inane story and ribald humor. 

Tom Verbrick, as the world-traveling patriarch uncle of the Country family, is especially a danger to propriety.  Just about any time he speaks, something suggestive rolls out. 

Jolene Van Beek, a newcomer obviously familiar with performing, fills out the singer-dancer cast in this churning soap opera about hog farmers and romance. 

Hanging on the skeleton story that ends in a fog are country hits from the 1970s and ’80s -- “Swingin.’”  “Queen of Hearts,” “I Was Raised on Country Sunshine,” “Stand by Your Man” and “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On.” 

Things work musically with the help of the tremendously versatile band - Heath Hermans, drums; Dennis Panneck, guitar; Tony Pilz, keyboards; Eric Snyder, bass; and sometimes Hibbard, guitar and bass. 

The script is a mere suggestion for Hermans, who writes shows with Hibbard. 

Hermans forgets lines, makes up stuff or says whatever passes through his brain at an instant, so shows always feel spontaneous. 

As usual with Frank’s shows, “C is for Country” is large, elaborate, loose and colorful.  The band and singers know how to entertain.  Some of the singing is worthy of the concert stage. 

On opening night Friday, cheers and big rounds of applause often followed songs. 

For a sight-unseen, homegrown product, that says a lot. 

3 1/2 stars out of 4.

Consider Let Me Be Frank Productions’ "Summer of ’69" a historical musical novel.  The show has one grain of truth and a whole lot of zany imagination after that. 

The idea is to air out hit songs with wonderful voices backed by a top-notch band, sprinkling in off-the-wall humor that’s often hormonal. 

Frank Hermans and Pat Hibbard write the shows, but Emily Paulsen seems to come up with a few lines on her own as she plays sardonic characters.  After a burst of ripe humor in this show, she deadpans, "Somewhat funny and disgusting at the same time.  " Right on. 

"Summer of ’69" has an odd lot of characters.  There are takes on Richard Nixon, John Lennon and the Kennedys who were alive at the time plus singers B.  J.  Thomas and Bobby Sherman. 

Amy Riemer takes hit songs and makes them her own spectacularly, be it "I’m Gonna Make You Love Me," "Give Me One More Chance" or "For Once in My Life.  "

When not playing a strange character in kaleidoscopic shorts, Hermans sings in ringing ways in "Hooked on a Feeling," "This Magic Moment" and more. 

The story is set in Sturgeon Bay, where Wal-Mart plans to move in and change the local economy.  This show is more politicized than usual for Frank’s, but the core to it is fun and making music. 

Other highlight songs and their singers: "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," Paulsen; "Good Morning Starshine," Lisa Andre; "Sweet Caroline," Paul Evansen; and "Up on Cripple Creek," Hibbard, doubling on bass. 

Many songs come with a light show, as the peace symbol splashed on a scrim for John Lennon’s "Give Peace a Chance.  "

Lennon is a presence: Hibbard’s character, dressed in a long white nightgown (a take on the Lennon-Yoko Ono bed-in), denies he’s John Lennon and refuses to sing any of Lennon’s songs.  Meantime, over and over, other characters egg him on, singing snippets from "Revolution," etc.  It’s a wonderful thread that helps "Summer of ’69" to be inviting. 

3 1/2 stars out of 4.

Christmas show No. 11 for Let Me Be Frank Productions finds the free-wheeling troupe again exploring mostly contemporary stars’ takes on the season to avoid a same old, same old feel.  In a first, two new songs are blended in. 

The going is bumpy around dialogue and hit-or-miss jokes, but when it comes to music, "A Frank’s Christmas" rolls through colorful songs one after another with the stage pumped up by light shows. 

The band — Heath Hermans, drums; Dennis Panneck, guitar; Pat Hibbard, bass (co-writer and rock- song singing specialist); and Tony Pilz, keyboard (and Mr. Orchestra in this show) — delivers a big one-two punch in the second half.  First, it supports singer Paul Evansen in the thoughtful, "They Said There’d Be Snow at Christmas."  Next comes a rock-muscular instrumental take on "The Nutcracker Suite" that energizes Sergei Tchaikovsky’s music. 

The story in the show turns on two singing groups coming to New York to record for Macy’s Christmas album.  The Three Seasons are three nerdy guys from Goodman — Frank Hermans, Evansen and Hibbard.  The Adequates are three 19-year-olds (the script says) from the South — Lisa Andre, Maggie McGinn and Amy Riemer. 

Visits by the ghosts of Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley add a cosmic element. 

Tom Verbrick plays Crosby as well as the Teutonic Macy’s owner and hippie-ish record producer. 

Frank Hermans plays Presley and is featured singing and playing guitar on the two new songs he wrote and the rest of the troupe enhanced.  Both are solid and, of course, tailor-made to fit Hermans’ ranging voice.  The anthem-size "This is Christmas" closes the show.  "Peace" includes a clever vocal shift that infuses interest. 

Riemer (the vocal coach), McGinn and Andre impress.  Riemer is brilliant in such solos as "I Miss You Most at Christmas.  " McGinn and Andre delivered a double-barreled "Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.  " The three team in splendid harmony in a calypso-style in the song that opens, "Hark now herald angels sing.  "

Again, Frank’s offers a hefty Christmas package.

3 1/2 stars out of 4.

In the end - after a goofy story has been built, potty jokes played out, wacky characters set free, ad libs cleared out and songs set up with a phrase - a Let Me Be Frank Productions show is a matter of just sitting back and soaking in splendid sounds of the singers and live band. 

In the new “Dr. Love,” created by Frank Hermans with musical direction of Pat Hibbard, fresh forces come into play while the troupe’s powerhouses still do their thing. 

The story is set in the office of psychiatric partners (Hermans and Lisa Andre), who are treating patients (Amy Riemer, Julio Reyes and Heath Hermans) who have with love afflictions.  Meantime, the “help” (Hibbard and Tom Verbrick as rumpled janitors and Amy Paulsen as the wisecracking receptionist) find plentiful antics of their own. 

Riemer supplies a great character, a split personality.  One second, she’s sweet and shy Amy, the next second she’s the naughty, sensually explosive Amy Joe.  Both sing “Loving You,” the beautiful Minnie Ripperton song with the suddenly soaring phrase that ignites the air.  In voice, Riemer electrifies all over the place and especially in “Everlasting Love” and “I am a Woman in Love.  ”

Frank Hermans messed up a bit on opening night Friday, but his English-accented Dr. Love character is fun and there’s no mistaking what Hermans can do in song.  Because of all the love songs in this show, he mostly displays his lyrical side, as in “Love is in the Air” and “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight.  ”

Hibbard supplies rock spunk in “Love Stinks” and “Who Loves You Pretty Baby.  ”

Heath Hibbard gets gritty on drums and vocals in “Dr. Love,” which lets him stretch. 

Emmy Paulsen delivers as the no-nonsense Miss Cellaneous and in big voice in such songs as “Love will Keep Us Together” and “Dreaming.  ”    

Andre packs vocal punch and fills “I Honestly Love You” with emotion.  She also teams excellently with newcomer Reyes in “Where is the Love.  ”    

Reyes plays a little sax, sings a little scat and adds fresh energy in singing style and a few dance moves in “Keep It Coming Love.  ”

Verbrick is Hibbard’s comedic foil, especially in “Let Your Love Flow.  ” Verbrick gets into sight gags with a prop toilet, including a kind of lip-synching with the seat as Hibbard sings. 

4 stars out of 4.

Big voices fly in big ways in “Decades,” the latest original show wrapped around a goofy story from Let Me Be Frank Productions. 

The most impressive splash is a four-song R&B showcase with the females taking turns unleashing color - “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman” with Maggie McGinn, “Chain of Fools” with Amy Riemer, “Freedom” with Emily Paulsen and “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” with McGinn again. 

With four horns from Bay City Swing and a pianist added to the nifty regular band, everything is played out with extra fullness in this sequence and throughout the show. 

Frank Hermans pulls out one of his astounding stunts.  He sings a full-bodied rendition of “Candy Man” while wearing only boxer shorts, socks and a neckerchief.  Unforgettable.  Funny, too. 

The underwear stuff is part of the story, which this time finds guys and girls struggling with romance from 1958 to 1970, over three decades - thus the title. 

The character acting is solid.  Paulsen deadpans jokes as a Yooper with her own bent on words and wisdom.  Riemer is a ditsy sex bomb (who’s poured into her costumes).  Pat Hibbard is a chemist who believes the way to get a girl is with a bomb.  Tom Verbrick is a lounge owner who in the second act is a wobbly old man who curses co-writers Hermans and Hibbard for writing him too old.  Only McGinn has a straight role, the waitress at the lounge. 

A songfest laced with one-liners (some true zingers, some forced), the show also is a dance-athon and light show with a few special microphone effects as the songs move into the ’70s. 

Other highlight songs: “Spinning Wheel” (Hibbard and the brass), “Mack the Knife” (Verbrick), “Fever” and “Sir Duke” (Riemer), “Hey, Big Spender” (Paulsen), “My Guy” McGinn and any Hermans song in his multiple voices. 

This show proves again that some ’70s material is thin of substance, but the saving grace here is the songs are performed with spice with a lot of dance moves.

4 stars out of 4.

Not many troupes do shows about themselves.  Then there’s Let Me Be Frank Productions, which has good reason to. 

Celebrating its 10th anniversary of putting on original shows, the song-and-dance troupe offers a two-for-one romp in its 60th production. 

First, it recounts its start as Frank Hermans and Joe Kiedinger write out a show on bar napkins on a local nightspot’s karaoke night.  The second half brings back much of that show, “The Groovy ’70s.  ”    

This show has the trademarks of the troupe’s staying power - light-up-the-sky vocals, loose humor, catchy dance moves, musicality in the band, spirit and energy. 

Kiedinger is a big plus in his first show with the group in seven years.  His take on saucy Tom Jones in “Delilah” is a showstopper. 

On opening night Friday, he spoke about his pride in the group and being thrilled to do his first performance at the Meyer Theatre.  He then sang Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” which became a duet with Hermans showing up as wildly dressed Elton John, bursting forth with his colorful voice and bawdy sight gags. 

Icons of the ’70s are showcased impressively.  Amy Riemer flies as Janis Joplin in “Me and Bobby McGee,” Maggie McGinn radiates sounds of Rita Coolidge in “Your Love is Lifting Me Higher” and Paul Evansen reaches into Neil Diamond in “Desiree.  ”    

There’s a puppet show to Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend,” dancing and harmony as The Jackson Five, a neat set of acoustic music and much more. 

This show in many ways is usual for Frank’s - hit-filled, lively, sometimes risqué and laced with spectacular singing.  It’s also rare in another way: How many troupes do what Frank’s does and last? It’s a bit of a phenomenon. 

4 stars out of 4.

Three weeks after shoulder surgery, Frank Hermans, right arm in a sling, is in the thick of another show with his namesake troupe that will make folks laugh, smile, be amazed by or go, "ick," at.

Let Me Be Frank Productions' "Hoe Down" creates showcase moments for solo singers — live band, lots of lights, nice movement and sterling voices (especially the women).

This show also wallows in barnyard/septic-tank humor that's a step beyond what's typical of Frank's.

The storyline is built around a breakup of a couple, Paul Bob Squatley and Susan Sarandon Jo McBritches, of once-feuding clans. That sets in motion lots of achy-breaky-heart country songs. In between are comic bits about grammar and language mangling, bait eating and rekindled love for a mother who's run off with Junior Samples.

Hermans and co-writer Pat Hibbard concoct some whoppers in these productions that take existing songs and add to their meanings in a new setting.

The women wow in their featured songs. Amy Riemer soars in "Where Would You Be." Maggie McGinn launches "Stay." Suzan Sherman radiates in "Better Things to Do."

The band enhances all the singers — Heath Hermans, drums and a character; Mike Hermans, banjo and corn-fed off-stage narration; Dennis Panneck, guitar; Tony Pilz, keyboards; Eric Snyder, bass; and Hibbard (at times), bass and mandolin.

The guys in the cast play over-the-top hick types who get comedy licks in singing — Paul Evansen ("Marry for the Money"); Frank Hermans ("One More Last Chance"); Hibbard ("Gone Fishin'"); and Tom Verbrick ("So Much Better Online").

Things especially get cranking in the second half. Songs are nailed one after the other, and humor crackles as an outrageous character surfaces and a comedy scene bursts from the blue during a cameo.

Memorable from opening Friday night was Frank Hermans dancing with one arm in a sling while partners whirled and swirled on his free hand.

3 1/2 stars (out of 4)

The latest Let Me Be Frank Productions show obsesses on double-entendre variations of one joke in its fractured story.  But the songs, singing and, especially in this show, the dancing go a long way to capture the shoo-be-doo spirit of an era in "1963 — Oh What a Night."

Set in small-town Beaver in Marinette County, the story involves shady real estate maneuverings, a UFO, an alien and shaken townfolk who have a tendency toward romance.

From a musical time capsule come top 10 songs that are cute pop ("Norman," featuring Amy Riemer-Kruk), smooth pop ("Wonderful, Wonderful," Frank Hermans), rock ’n’ roll ("You Can’t Sit Down," Pat Hibbard), rhythmic pop ("Be My Baby," Maggie McGinn), croon-pop ("Fools Rush In," Tom Verbrick) and energized pop ("One Fine Day," Emily Paulsen).

In impressive outings, Hermans turns on a falsetto in "Denise," and Riemer-Kruk pours out R&B fire in "Anyone Who Had a Heart."

The troupe teams with harmonies and backup singing, along with movement in keeping with the danceable music.

The band sets a lively pace — Heath Hermans, drums; Rick Panneck, guitar; Eric Snyder, bass; and Tony Pilz, (with a lot of spicy solos), keyboards.

Among the oddball characters and accents created by co-writers Frank Hermans and Hibbard, Verbrick has the weirdest as a super-dense bumpkin who got that way from licking the positive post of a car battery.

3 1/2 stars (out of 4)

Amid a burst of contemporary Christmas songs, Let Me Be Frank Productions sends up one of its outrageously uninhibited scenes in this year’s Christmas show.

“Walking in a Winter Wonderland” gets a new title and new vistas as co-writers Frank Hermans and Pat Hibbard and carefree colleague Paul Evansen bring on jaw-dropping hilarity. I won’t give what they do away, but it’s sure to stop every show.

This production has air of freshness - which may serve as a warning to those hidebound to standard songs (and lower volume).

Many songs are recent releases from hit makers’ Christmas CDs. Familiar songs get new and different takes. Familiarity doesn’t surface until well into the show when Hermans sings “Silver Bells” Elvis Presley style.

This show plays with a story about lonely ski jumpers from abroad as they prepare at Pine Mountain in Upper Michigan for the 1984 Olympics. The story is built for humor, with a little message.

Fractured accents come from all - Hermans as an Englishman, Hibbard as a language-slaying Slovenian, Evansen as a cocky Frenchman and Maggie McGinn, Jill Quinlan, Amy Riemer-Kruk and Suzan Sherman as “youz guys” U.P. girls.

The women are fantastic singers. They team harmonically in “Mr. Santa,” an update on “Mr. Sandman.” Sherman shines in “O Holy Night” sung in French. Riemer-Kruk glistens in “Still, Still, Still.” Quinlan is sweet and soulful in “Where are You Christmas.” Maggie McGinn radiates in “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

The women add a lot of dancing, motion and overall vitality to the show.

Other solid songs include “There’s Something About Christmas” by Hibbard; “Jingle Bells,” rock style, by Evansen; and the Act II-opening rock medley from the wily band made up of Heath Hermans, drums; Pat Hibbard, bass; Dennis Panneck, guitar; and Tony Pilz, keyboards.

With light displays, a mountain backdrop, Christmas-decorated stage and songs given a lot of dressing, this is a big show. Sometimes solo singers make it feel like a concert.

4 stars out of 4

Another big concert-in-a-story rolls out in the latest Let Me Be Frank Productions show.

"Our '80s Senior Ball" is personal. It's a flashback to 1982 and troupe namesake Frank Hermans' senior year at Green Bay Preble High School.

The show is a crazy quilt of local names, Packers history and name-dropping, adolescent humor, the 18-year-old liquor law, hormonal kids, a moonlight lighting teacher, teen and forbidden love, oddball characters and bundles and bundles of pop-rock songs of the era.

Songs are set in flashy light-and-fog displays and choreographed motion, with the singers often letting fly. It's not Broadway, but the production has heft — maybe too much at almost 2½ hours.

A major player is the band. It shapes, adapts and fires up an array of styles and genres while suiting individual soloists. The players: Tony Pilz, keyboards; Dennis Panneck, guitar; Heath Hermans, drums and a wildly bizarre minor character; and Pat Hibbard, bass, co-writer and a major character.

Frank Hermans co-wrote the show and plays himself - as usual, cheery, multi-voiced, risqué and a bit of an ad-lib loose cannon.

Hermans ends the first and final acts featured in big numbers. First, it's in falsetto in the high-energy "Come On, Eileen." Then it's in a sweet tenor in the romantic. "I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore."

Amy Riemer-Kruk is fantastic in her character, a Goth girl dressed in all-black and making spooky gestures while dropping such dark phrases as, "True love is a rotting carcass in the vein of life."

Some best moments by the individuals: Riemer-Kruk (voice coach), "You Should Hear How She Talks About You;" Suzan Sherman, as the popular girl, "Call Me;" Maggie McGinn, as the "totally" valley girl, "Only the Lonely Can Play;" Paul Evansen, as the I-love-myself guy, "Tainted Love;" Tom Verbrick (choreographer), as the forensics teacher/disc spinner, "Don't Stand So Close to Me;" and Hibbard, as the shy musician, "Somebody's Baby."

Two plaques in the lobby show the cast and band today and back when, either in high school or younger. The show teases about guys in their 40s playing high schoolers — but what talented fortysomething high schoolers they are.

The show takes place at Preble and past gathering spots, Ethan Allen's bar and the Downtowner. It's a Green Bay show for sure.

4 stars (out of 4)

So many story-type songs came out of the 1950s and ’60s that the clever Green Bay troupe Let Me Be Frank Productions today is piecing them together into shows complete with made-up, localized, spoof-filled storylines.

Again with the new “Shake, Rattle & Roll” that opened Friday at the Meyer Theatre in downtown Green Bay, songs shape characters that singers can dig into and make songs have meaning.

This show’s story is about love in Wisconsin in a backdrop of college, the Cold War and the Army. It’s sometimes risqué/coarse, which is par for Frank’s course.

As is often the case, the features sometimes-spectacular singing, playful dancing, big lighting displays and nifty touches from the live band.

Namesake and co-writer/director Frank Hermans often fluidly sings Elvis Presley songs. They’re not necessarily hits or as Presley but ones that fit where his love-struck character is at the time – like is appeal to his girlfriend to “Treat Me Nice.”

Amy Riemer-Kruk is stellar in her featured solos, which tend to be big affairs suited to her brilliant pop/R&B voice – “Baby It’s You” and “Judy’s Turn to Cry” among them.

Hermans and Riemer-Kruk command the stage in the duet “I Think I’m Going Out of My Head” by her and “You’re Too Good to be True” by him.

Other highlights: Co-writer/director Pat Hibbard supplies pop power in “Another Saturday Night,” Maggie McGinn soars in songs like “Band of Gold,” Tom Verbrick puts step into “Travelin’ Man” and all the choreography, newcomer (but local musical theater veteran) Emily Paulsen adds her colorful voice to “I Know a Place Where We Can Go” and newcomer Lissa Hardy fits in with the troupe fun and showcasing as in her light-splashed “I’ve Told Every Little Star.”

Contributing special touches is the band – Pat Garrity, keyboards; Adam Bunn, bass; Dennis Panneck, guitar; and Heath Hermans, drums, who doubles as the characters of a gruff coach and Army sergeant.

In some ways, the show seems makeshift. In many, many ways it is so much not.

4 stars (out of four)

Let Me Be Frank Productions may be repeating its spunky and sassy "Beach Baby" show from three years ago, but it has a different, fuller feel this time around.

At the Meyer Theatre, it has more room, props and lighting effects, and bigger sound.

Some performers are new to this show, and that brings different touches.

The story is the same: The winner of a millionth-customer prize at Handi's grocery store in Hortonville is sent on an all-expenses trip to a California resort. Guys in the cast play goofus hicks in Hortonville and French-accented make-out artists in El Segundo.

Be aware, "Beach Baby" has the most double-entendre meanings of all of Frank's shows.

Inimitable Frank Hermans pulls stunts. He dares to stand on stage in a gold lame "swimsuit" and little else and joke around. He ad-libs spicy lines opposite Amy Riemer-Kruk to get her to crack up (which she seldom does).

Hermans plays with the audience and acts up, but when it comes to singing, he's right on time and again, as are those around him. They are vocal coach Riemer-Kruk, Maggie McGinn, Paul Evansen, Tom Verbrick and Pat Hibbard, who doubles as bassist in the band that includes Heath Hermans, drums; Tony Pilz, keyboards; and Dennis Panneck, guitar.

The show is about love, sun and summer, so songs are upbeat. The singing impresses all around.

Everybody pitches in in big sequences. One is a dream with surreal lighting effects for "California Dreaming," "Summer in the City," "Summer Breeze" and "School's Out for Summer." Another rolls through snappy surfing songs one after another.

"Beach Baby" is solidly entertaining.

4 stars (out of four)

Let Me Be Frank Productions continues to generate energy at the Meyer Theatre in downtown Green Bay in "Frank's Love Boat," even if the ride is bumpy.

Hit songs galore, splashy singing, a super live band and a hilarious video fire up the original musical that's laced with home surf-and-turf touches.

Action slows for talk to set up scenes for songs. Often the talk is a reach for cleverness.

The basic setup is fun. This "love boat" is the SS Badger ferry, sailing from Manitowoc to Ludington, Mich. Aboard are the Gerald Ford family jewels, being taken to the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay — meaning the boat is sailing the wrong direction.

At the core, the show is a showcase of '70s-ish hits, some slick, some rocky, and most infused with specialty lighting that fills the stage and sometimes flares out onto the theater walls.

The players and characters are Frank Hermans as the captain, who speaks with an Irish/pirate accent; Tom Verbrick as a paper company heir, who speaks through clenched teeth; Suzan Sherman as a gold digger, who speaks with a Swedish accent or, as her true self, Brooklynese; Pat Hibbard and Paul Evansen as a pair of goofus thieves; Maggie McGinn as the ship's doctor, who preaches cleanliness; and Amy Riemer-Kruk as the cheery activity director.

A sampler of songs with solid singing: "You Got the Best of My Love," among many others (Riemer-Kruk); "You're No Good" (McGinn); "Killing Me Softly" (Sherman); "I Wanna Kiss You All Over" (Evansen); "King Tut" (Verbrick); "Silly Little Love Song" (Hermans); and "China Grove" (Hibbard).

Fitting in like a glove is the band: Heath Hermans, drums; Tony Pilz, keyboards; Adam Bunn, bass; and Dennis Panneck, guitar.

The show opens with a neat, character-introducing video a la TV's "Love Boat." More fantastic is a story video of Hibbard and his lovable dog (stuffed) as they romp to "Day After Day."

The shows big running gag involves the ship's horn. Its use is pregnant with double meanings, which is typical of Frank's unabashedly adult shows.

3 1/2 stars (out of 4)

"Crimson & Clover," the latest concoction of Let Me Be Frank Productions, is a spoof on spoofs filled with trademark solid singing.

This one has clever bits and wordplay, well developed at the start but less so deeper into the show (four stars does not mean perfect).

Crimson of the title is evil spy Crimson Jacobowski (Amy Riemer-Kruk), who wants to take over the world and get rid of all the men by shutting off their beer, thus killing them. Why? She was wronged by another spy, Leaf Clover IV (co-writer Pat Hibbard).

Crimson has built a prototype replacement for men, the robot Women's Design No. 40 (Pat Verbrick) — WD-40, get it?

On the good-spy side is Bail Bond (co-writer Frank Hermans), while the bad-spy side includes Barb B. Doll (Maggie McGinn) and Emma Roids (Suzan Sherman).

Everybody speaks with a British accent to sound continental spy-ish. The time is the late 1960s, the heyday of action spy movies.

Typical of a Frank's show, a lot of nuttiness takes place. Some is corny, and others is spot-on, like a routine Verbrick does rattling off an alphabet soup of acronyms — CIA, BBC, FBI and the like.

Typical of Frank's recent shows, lighting effects are woven in. That's especially the case when Sherman cuts loose in "Do You Want Somebody to Love" alone in front of a screen on to which colorful geometric designs are splashed.

"Crimson & Clover" covers a lot of stylistic territory — rock (often featuring Hibbard), gutsy blues (Riemer-Kruk), pop crooning (Hermans), big emotion (McGinn and Sherman) and novelty (Verbrick).

The singers find a comfort zone on stage. In part, that's because cordless headsets let them move and emote. It's also because they have a do-all live band behind them: Adam Bunn, bass; Heath Hermans, drums; Tony Pilz, keyboard; and Tom Reynolds, guitar.

When hearing the band support Riemer-Kruk in "Chain of Fools" and Hermans in "Evil Woman" — to name only two — audiences are getting the real deal in wowing live performance.

Let Me Be Frank Productions warmed up this production by putting on a concert version nightly for passengers as the troupe sailed aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean.

How's that for something different for entertainment made in Green Bay?

4 stars out of 4

Things are never quite the same old same old with a Frank Hermans-led troupe, but Christmas show No. 8 decidedly aims toward contemporary songs to create an aura of freshness.

"A Frank's Christmas" contains a story and characters so that things become meaningful at the end.

Along the way, everybody in the 11-member entourage is featured. That includes the showcase singers — particularly the lustrous women — and a running gag, with drummer Heath Hermans playing a key role as a grumpy, dumpy, overly hefty guardian angel, who dances corny dances.

The story involves a couple of lonely guys at a gas station in Oconto, a squeaky clean couple from Abrams, a loopy and precocious sister, a nasty mother-in-law and the well-meaning angels.

Of course, with a Frank's show the story is an excuse for jokes and a way to set up the next song, which is even teased about this time.

Colorful numbers abound.

For the women, they include Maggie McGinn in "Nobody Ought To Be Alone on Christmas," Amy Riemer-Kruk in "This Christmas" and Suzan Sherman in "This is My Grown Up Christmas List."

For the men, they include Paul Evansen in "It's Christmas Time Again," Frank Hermans in "Let There Be Peace on Earth" (and its setup), Pat Hibbard in "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and Tom Verbrick in "Mama Got Run Over by a Reindeer."

Humor rolls. Frank Hermans' character continually drops expressions of surprise as, "Holy Florence County" or "Holy Hortonville Strike." Heath Hermans is visually funny as a 300-pounder with angel wings and a gauze tutu. Riemer-Kruk continually spouts rapid-fire facts and a hilarious routine involves mistaking a 1976 Buick for the mother-in-law.

The wily band — Tony Pilz, keyboards; Tom Reynolds, guitar; and Brennan Van Sistine, drums — keeps up with the shenanigans and shares in them.

Some numbers have unique arrangements. Heath Hermans plays hand drums as Evansen and Frank Hermans sing "I Saw Three Ships." Van Sistine provides vocal percussion as Frank Hermans leads a doo-wop version of "Walking in a Winter Wonderland."

Lights project snowflakes on the ceiling before the show, then add action in it.

This is the first Christmas show for Frank's at the Meyer Theatre in downtown Green Bay. It's a big and bounteous production, with a few tinges of regret about war and a nice message at the end.

4 stars (out of four)

The singing is sumptuous, the story silly and the energy high. It's Let Me Be Frank Productions' "Viva Las Vegas," complete with some of the flash and leer associated with Vegas.

The premise is the love child Elvis Preslinski has come from Poland to conquer Vegas as his father did, only this Elvis is up against the comely trio, The Ordinaires.

As usual with Frank's, hits roll one after another, with the showcased singer scoring along with the nifty live band.

In between, there's loopiness, with some especially radical characters firing up this show.

We'll start with Preslinski (crooner Frank Hermans), who is introduced as a tyke in cute sleeping outfit. The "kid" sings "How Great Thou Art" in true Elvis fashion (a Hermans trademark, and a well-used element in this show). Then there's Mr. Bigg (Paul Evansen), a gold-chained Vegas wheeler-dealer with a huge rear end (padded like mad) who tells all the girls, "You're my favorite," as he makes out with them. (This is an adult show).

Evansen's right-on "Leave the Light On" is among his terrific tunes.

Preslinski's manager, Col. Thumbski (Pat Hibbard), when he's not protective of Preslinski or letting fly with such songs as "Coming to America" and "Roll Over Beethoven," is a set-up guy.

He's straight man for a goofy character (Tom Verbrick) with a slightly suggestive name who's around basically for laughs.

The gag Verbrick milks: A member of Preslinki's entourage of two, he's Polish-accented, wears a helmet and repeats everything Col. Thumbski says in a topsy-turvy way.

The great icing on this comical cake: The trio (Maggie McGinn, Amy Riemer-Kruk and Suzan Sherman, with Linda Roach in support). A few of their sensational songs: McGinn in "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves," Riemer-Kruk in "(You Have To Believe We Are) Magic" and Sherman in "Superstar."

Their singing is bright, colorful and soaring.

Whatever the singers need for support they get from castmates and the band, with Heath Hermans on drums, Tony Pilz on keyboards, Tom Reynolds on guitar and Eric Snyder on bass.

A big backdrop used in the second act and ample light effects catch some of Vegas' razzle-dazzle.

Be aware this show is Vegas-cheesy at times.

Of note: Friday night's opener took place during a storm, and water leaked onto the stage.

The grand old Meyer Theatre needs its roof patched.