Miss 1988--an original musical by Matthew David--is, in a word, well worth your time. The play is a dramatized account of the life of Gunther , the East German lathe operator who stabbed Monica Seles at a tennis match in 1993. The story begins before that, however, in 1988, where we are witness to Gunther's life at the factory and the beginnings of his obsession with Steffi Graf. This is definitely not your typical idea for a musical, but Matthew David somehow makes it work, both in the writing and the directing, with help from co-director ADA MONTALVO. (And I know this cast can take direction, because I went to Perkins with them, and within 10 minutes I had everyone in a 3-person radius of me throwing things at each other). A lot of the songs feel more like sung dialogue than actual songs, but they still work. And the play seems to drag in a few spots, but it's worth sitting through those. This is Matthew David's last play in Gainesville before he goes to Chicago, possibly to write musicals about sausage. But mark it down now: you will hear Matthew David's name again someday. He's that good. However, as good a job as he did writing the play, he did an even better job in casting it. The individual performances are outstanding, so much so that there isn't room to list them all here, but my favorites were Gabriel Trinity as Gunther and Nicole Dickson as Milli, Gunther's boss. But now let's forget all that plot and acting stuff, because the real measure of whether a play is worth seeing is the number of cute chicks in it; and boy, this play is chock full of 'em. Sex kitten Elizabeth Bowen--who incidentally said to say hi to all you people-- plays sultry seductress Monika, a factory worker who unsuccessfully tries to bed Gunther, but has to settle for licking me at Perkins after the show. Sex kitten Cathy Jean plays Ada, the sultry, seductive co-director who......no, wait......Sex kitten Cathy Jean plays Ada, the hot and wild defense department computer language who.....no, wait......Sex kitten Cathy Jean plays Ada, the young, sexy orphan separated from her father by the Iron Curtain. Her irrepressible cuteness will make you laugh, cry, and run to your local library to check the age-of-consent laws for this state. Stage newcomer and sex kitten Kate Morrison plays somebody who looks a lot like Uma Thurman. Although alas, the directors decided to have her wear a factory worker costume, when she--and us--would have been much better served by a leather catwoman suit. Oh, yes, catwoman, slurp me like the naughty saucer of milk that I am...... And, of course, let's not forget about co-director / sex kitten Ada Montalvo, who looks stunning just sitting in the audience wearing a shirt and pants. So, to sum up: Miss 1988; music; chicks; go see it. Monday at the Hippodrome. No excuses. We know where you live. 8) -john