It's a real coup for director Vanita Rae Smith and the Army Community Theatre to get the first community theater rights to produce "Curtains," a musical whodunit by the award-winning team of John Kander and Fred Ebb. Regrettably, it isn't a better show, lacking the cutting irony of the team's "Cabaret" or the slick cynicism of their "Chicago."

Closing on Broadway less than a year ago and winning a Tony award for David Hyde Pierce, "Curtains" is a silly spoof of murder mysteries and backstage romances. It has only a few good songs, but enough in-jokes and splashy dance numbers to have made it a popular Broadway sell.

The ACT production gives a good sense of the material, but can't pad it with enough muscle and skin to camouflage its creaky skeleton. It also lacks the star power that buoys up more than a few sagging Broadway shows.

Tom Holowach, who earns considerable points for poise and extra credit for Hyde Pierce mannerisms, plays stage-struck Lt. Frank Cioffi of the Boston Police Department, who comes in to investigate the murder of the leading lady in a musical's pre-Broadway tryout. Can he solve the crime, fix the show, and fall in love before the final curtain?

The downside is that Cioffi has few songs, and they aren't the best. Thomas Johnson, last seen in Diamond Head Theatre's "Les Misérables," has that honor, with "I Miss the Music."

Other songs include a square dance and saloon hall dance numbers, a hymn to the sacredness of a performing artist and, in subtle parody of Rodgers and Hammerstein, a dream sequence filled with shimmering Mylar.

The show pushes out so many characters that it lacks a central focus and often plays as a grab bag of loosely assembled scenes. That can be fun, as long as they distract us from a meandering plot and some of the scenes are good enough to do that.

Many good supporting roles suggest "Curtains" has a long future in community theater. Jamie Rolfsmeyer draws focus as a tough-talking producer, Lenny Klompus is the show's prancing director and Lance Rae is a malicious newspaper critic.

And not since "Psycho" has a story line dispatched a celebrity so quickly as this one disposes of Tina Shelton as the miserable lead of the musical set in Kansas.

"Curtains" features lots of sets, costumes, dances, and an occasionally ragged orchestra. All-in-all, it's funnier than "Chicago."