After one too many days of football in gym class, after missing the catch, after breaking my glasses (again), after counting the minutes until the bell rang, I thought, there's gotta be something better than this. Actually, after the bell did ring, and we all headed inside, I
quietly hummed "There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This" from Sweet Charity, just to keep myself going. Later, at home, I could close my bedroom door, blast the soundtrack, close my eyes, and picture Shirley MacLaine dancing on a roof with her fellow hookers, belting out that classic show tune.

If they could make it through the day, and they were prostitutes, then surely I could make it through one more day of gym class. At the time, though, it sure was hard.

It might have been a whole lot easier if things were different. Or, not so much different, as opposite. What if the sports guys were the geeks, and what if gym class was showtune class and what if my knowledge of Fiddler on the Roof was as revered as the kid who could run down the
stats of every player on the Cubs?

What if?

That "What if?" is now on stage at Bailiwick, which has recently established itself as the go-to theater for musicals. With ZANNA DON'T!, Bailiwick brings the local premiere of an Off-Broadway success that examines exactly that what if scenario. See, in the high school world of ZANNA DON'T!, fans of Broadway musicals are the norm, and those stupid jocks are relegated to the sidelines. Sondheim is the Michael Jordon of his day, and our eponymous hero, who would be shoved off to the sidelines in our world, is actually the king of his.

Parading proudly down the neon hallways of Heartsville High, Zanna is a 21st century matchmaker, with a little help from a magic wand and a talking bird (just go with it). Soon, he has found the perfect mate for all his friends: from Steve, the football team captain (much less cool than chess team captain) to Kate, the captain of the electric bull riding team. And Zanna? Oh, he has no time for finding his own love, not when the rest of the high school needs his help.

When Mike, Steve's new beau, pens the school musical about heterosexuals in the military, Steve gets the lead, and Kate plays opposite. The forbidden love in the school play rocks the community, and brings about surprising heterosexual feelings in a couple of students. Can Zanna, his wand, his bird pal, and school DJ Tank, a sort of one man Greek chorus, sort everything out in time for the school prom?

Well, this being a musical comedy, the answer is probably yes. But, along the way, Zanna and his friends have to learn a few important lessons about themselves and those not like them. It is to the credit of book, music, and lyrics writer Tim Acito, that what sounds like an inside out after-school special comes across as sweet and hopeful, without cynical ironies or in your face preaching.

It also helps greatly to have an eight person cast whose earnest enthusiasm and energy makes up for any inconsistencies in overall performance. Much of the cast isn't really that much older than the characters they play (some are still in college, and several are making their Chicago stage debuts), and that only adds to the genuine affection the audience can't help but feel towards them.

While Ira Spector plays the lead role of Zanna, the ultimate high school out and proud gay boy, as a winning romantic know-it-all, Annie Fitch's Kate gives the lesbians plenty to think about with her bull riding skills and solid voice. Jay Reynolds Jr. is a little bit Seinfeld and a little bit Freddie Prinz as the happy DJ with a secret crush, and brings an "aw, shucks!" attitude to Tank.

Director Elisa Woodruff (also making a Chicago stage debut) keeps things moving along, even over the script's couple of lapses in pacing. She is helped greatly by choreographer D Eric Woolweber, who brings humor and verve to the surprising and welcome amount of dancing on the small studio theater stage. There's a little disco here, a little country western there, and somehow no one crashes into each other, not so easy to avoid in such a limited space.

Courtney O'Neill's set design features neo orange, lemon yellow, lime green, and teal lockers, along with squares of colored plastic, appropriately reminiscent of Bye Bye Birdie's "The Telephone Hour," The Partridge Family, and other teen pop icons. Alice Broughton's costumes
use the same color palette to create a world where cropped pants on the football team captain is nothing new.

This is a happy, funny, goofy show, but it is a measure of the show's impact, that when the ending finally comes, it is surprisingly bittersweet. Even here, the world of "what if" is only temporary.

ZANNA, DON'T! plays at Bailiwick Wednesday - Sunday until November 4. Call 773-883-1090 or visit www.bailiwick.org for more information.