The lights come up on a Presidential candidate having sex with his mistress and dying suddenly from a heart attack. He gets up to sing the after death vaudeville number "Let the Games Begin," and the plot sprints ahead.

The candidate's widow joins with his polio-challenged older brother, who would like to have his moment in the spotlight, to groom her son Cal for the Presidency.

A drifting college student in his 20s, more interested in sex, drugs and rock & roll than politics, Cal reluctantly agrees to go along with their plans, and we ride the roller coaster of his journey.

The Towle Community Theater presents the second U. S. production of the musical "The Fix," John Dempsey (book & lyrics) and Dana P. Rowe (music), which originally premiered in London in 1997. (The pair has since collaborated on the musical adaptation of John Updike's novel "The Witches of Eastwick.")

An original cast recording of the London production is available, but none was made of the revised version performed in Arlington, Va. in 1998, says director Jeff Casey. The Towle cast has nothing but the score to guide them through the new numbers.

Casey describes "The Fix" as "a political cartoon with a malicious grin," which tells how people are driven to power through politics.

"They behave in a way they wouldn't ordinarily behave. They create complex and difficult situations and then look for a simple fix for what they've said or done."

The musical satirizes elements of the system and unrealistic expectations of political figures (Can those of us outside the arena stand up to similar scrutiny?).

But it doesn't demonize politics itself or any party or person, Casey says. Nor does it make apologies or offer solutions.

It moves at lightning speed in cinematic fashion without blackouts for scene changes, he says, and though the characters and situations are complex, it's always clear what's happening and who's manipulating who.

Though hateful banter is the norm, the family members can align with and play off each other when they believe it's to their advantage and a lot of comedy ensues.

Mother and uncle find Cal a wife who "tests well with the public," but a major threat to their well-ordered plans materializes when Cal goes off in his own direction (for the first time in his life?) and pursues happiness with a stripper named Tina. She becomes not only his mistress but his drug supplier as well. Can this problem be "fixed"?

Casey describes the music as "driving" with overtones of shows like "Jesus Christ Superstar," but some of Tina's songs give pause for reflection.

"Dangerous Games," sung by the mobster and "friend of the family" who runs the stripper club, relates to the way all of us walk a fine line at various times, Casey says.