Watchdog

Friday I attended the opening night performance of "Chuckleball," a show in which a talented, extremely hard-working cast of three men and one woman belts out sports-oriented song parodies for 90 minutes or so at the Snapple Theater Center at Broadway and 50th Street.

I'll do a brief review of the show in the newspaper when my column returns next week, but I wanted at least to let you know about it in the meantime, because it faces challenges attracting an audience given its unusual mix of sports and musical theater.

Somehow it works, thanks to cleverly written lyrics in which, for example, "My Sharona'' becomes an ode to Anna Kournikova, and a song from "Rent'' can turn into a lament about the Yankees' pitching woes.

It helps to have a strong working knowledge of current sports news, but even casual fans will get enough of the jokes to make it worthwhile.

Be advised that the top floor space at the Snapple Center is extremely informal, which mostly is a good thing, other than the metal folding chairs.

The official price per ticket is $45, but producer Jason Goldstein authorized me to share with WatchDog readers the "friends and family'' code that knocks the price down to a reasonable $35. (There also is a student ticket priced at $25.)

Here is the discount code: CBFF35.

Enjoy!