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.