This ‘Side Show’ more meek than freak

On paper, “Side Show” sounds like the perfect season finale for Nearly Naked Theatre, the alternative company with a fetish for campy and/or risque musicals.

Inspired by the lives of Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins who became singing stars on the vaudeville circuit during the Depression, Nearly Naked’s latest features characters including the Geek, the Snake Lady and the Cannibal King belting out tunes such as “Say Goodbye to the Freak Show” and “One Plus One Equals Three.”

If you’re planning to check out “Side Show,” however, do yourself a favor and don’t Google the Hilton sisters first, because their real lives were so much more interesting, not to mention lurid, than the story in this shockingly tepid tuner. The fictionalized version follows the twins — shy Violet and outre Daisy —as a pair of niceguy promoters whisk them away from the freak show where they were raised and groom them into singing sensations. Will fame be enough, or will the sisters also realize their dreams of love, marriage and a “normal” life?

The show opens with a busy scene-setter titled “Come Look at the Freaks,” which, under the synth-heavy musical direction of Mark 4man, most saves the entire show.

It may be appropriate that Zieser overshadows Cassie Chilton’s wallflowery Violet, but while the two show great acting chemistry portraying sisters literally joined at the hip, they make a less harmonious pair while singing duets — although this might be because of a sound system turned up to an ear-splitting 11.

Colin Ross — who recently starred in Phoenix Theatre’s “La Cage aux Folles,” in the “mangenue” role of Jean-Michel — shows off a sweet tenor voice, but his teenidol looks are all wrong for the role of the fauxfearsome Cannibal King, a freak-show veteran who follows the twins to vaudeville as stagehand and unofficial guardian.

Playing the Hiltons’ managers and love interests, Drew Swaine and Thomas Strawser create flat characters to go with their halting singing voices, although the for- mer does display some elan dancing hick-style as part of the sisters’ shtick.

Unfortunately, the rest of the cast hasn’t been given enough to do to keep the energy up onstage. Meanwhile, director Damon Dering’s choice to keep the ensemble players in their chintzy freak attire even after morphing into other characters (reporters and “Roustabouts”) is confusing rather than intriguing.

Coming from the director who gave us thrilling renditions of “The Who’s Tommy,” “Blood Brothers” and “Bat Boy: The Musical,” this comes as a major disappointment. But it’s not entirely his fault. Did we mention “Side Show” flopped on Broadway when it premiered in 1997?

Should have been a red flag.