With the musical "The Hunt for LaSalada," the avant-garde Pink Toupee Collective give nods to filmmaker David Lynch, collagist Joseph Cornell and surrealist pioneer Marcel Duchamp, with conceptual leaps across boundaries of artistic expression.

"We've created a new form of entertainment with 'LaSalada,' " said William Fuller, a member of the collective and one of the writers of the show. "It's equal parts Web experience, art installation and cabaret revue."

The Sacramento-based troupe is keen on experimenting with storytelling form by using an amalgam of film, the Internet, visual art, music and theater. Unlike its other shows, the 90-minute, two-act "LaSalada" is best absorbed by first visiting the show's Web site at www. fontainebleu.info, said Fuller.

That site offers a black-and-white silent film that is a crucial addendum to the "LaSalada" tale.

In the show, the collective tells the tale of conniving bon vivant Franc Fontaine-Bleu, who hires explorers to find a lost cinematic relic in a parallel universe. The musical will be performed Friday through May 9 at Sacramento's Ooley Theater, and it exists as much online as onstage.

"The story began a couple of weeks ago as a film and is unfolding right now online," said Fuller, the film's director and one of the six singers of the revue.

"So, in fact, the 'live performance' is not the show per se, it's one aspect of the total," he said.

The total "LaSalada" story will run its course over two months – with the beginning and middle taking place on the Web and the middle taking place live onstage as the musical revue, Fuller said.

"The conclusion of the story, which tells what eventually happens to Fontaine-Bleu, happens back on the Web site," he said.

"So, it's possible to enjoy the Web site portion of the show without seeing the stage version, and vice versa."

In "LaSalada," the story unfolds like a dream, with time blooming in a circular way as opposed to linear, Fuller said. The dream state gives a heavy nod to the surrealism of Duchamp. And the notion of time passing in a nonchronological way comes of Fuller's deep fascination with the time-bending aspect of the films of Lynch, especially "Mulholland Dr."

"We like to borrow heavily from film critic Andrew Sarris' 'auteur theory' for our productions," he said. Sarris believed that great directors, like authors, stamp a film with their personal vision and style.

As if the melding of online, stage and film was not novel enough, the revue invited 17 local visual artists to construct shadow boxes in the style of artist Cornell that will be used as part of the show. The works form Fontaine-Bleu's relic collection and can be seen as part of the cabaret revue experience.

For the stage show, audiences can expect music that has a decidedly rock-concert edge, said "LaSalada" director Nick Avdienko.

"Music is the primary driving force of almost all of Pink Toupee productions," said Avdienko, who is a member of the collective but is better known as artistic director of Beyond the Proscenium. "This is not musical theater. It has more of a Frank Zappa or early Peter Gabriel feel to it, with a performance art aspect."

Avdienko also believes that the online portion of "LaSalada" will be a boon to understanding a Pink Toupee Collective show.

"Sometimes, when audiences go away from a Pink Toupee Collective show, they're not entirely sure what they've experienced," Avdienko said. "The Web site will help clarify some of the themes and will enhance their experience."

For Avdienko, the nonlinear and episodic feel of the work is an important addition to the local theater scene.

"What I admire about the group is they try to find a way to experiment with storytelling whether it is abstract or linear," he said. "I think Sacramento benefits from different forms of art and exposure to abstract art."

This production marks the first time Avdienko, who describes himself as a director of abstract stage works, directs a full-bore musical production.

"I'm a theater director, so I'm used to dealing with actors. Dealing with musicians is an entirely different beast. It demands a different skill set," he said. "The challenge is to direct actors without treating them like actors. So this becomes much more of a collaborative process."

The Pink Toupee Collective, which has been around since 2001, boasts more than 30 members who include musicians, actors, spoken- and written-word artists, visual artists, dancers, and performance artists. They "appoint" one of their number to lead a production.

"And that person is me," said Fuller.

But he is careful not to cast himself as a leader of the organization. Fuller said the writing of the music and the story was done collectively among several members. And the same applies to the film that accompanies the show.

"We have certain fan base, and that fan base wants to be surprised," Fuller said. "But for newcomers that people drag to our shows, you generally see a certain look of astonishment and puzzlement in their faces."

He admits that misunderstanding has always been a factor for newcomers to the collective.

"Our audiences understand the way we present things, but some newcomers think they're going to a theatrical performance, and sometimes they can be confused, or even angered when they don't get what we do."

Those responses, however fraught, are ones Fuller welcomes.

"If you've caused them to momentarily look away, in disgust, consternation, disagreement, or whatever, and then to look back, and keep looking back, then you've won them. And that would be good."

Call Bee art critic Edward Ortiz at (916) 321-1071.