The Musical of Musicals butchers source material
Jess Taboda
Issue date: 10/14/05 Section: Entertainment
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When I heard about The Musical of Musicals - The Musical!, I thought that this musical, written for the sole purpose of making fun of American musical theater, had amazing potential to be hysterically funny, but after the first scene, I had second thoughts.
The Musical of Musicals - The Musical! tells the basic story of Rent - landlord wants the rent, girl can't pay the rent, wise older woman gives useless advice, boyfriend tries to save the day - in the style of five famous musical composers-lyricists. Each version is supposed to poke fun at some of the stereotypical components and themes in each composer-lyricist's style, but in the end it turned out to be direct quotes and witless humor that was hard to follow if you hadn't seen the specific show they were exploiting at the moment and hackneyed when you did understand.
The first interpretation, titled "Corn," was told in the style of Rogers and Hammerstein and opens with an Oklahoma!-like tune called "Oh, What Beautiful Corn" that drags on for much too long. Once that was over, the first joke was cracked to the reciprocating sounds of crickets chirping. Instead of treading on, the actors would stop and wait, giving the audience enough time to laugh - should they decide to start. The rest of the musical treads on in this manner, picking a specific song from a specific musical and rewriting a few notes and words to get a rare chuckle out of the audience.
By the second interpretation, told in the style of Stephen Sondheim, of Sweeney Todd fame, and not so cleverly named A Little Complex, the jokes had become so corny and witless that the audience literally groaned.
When it was Andrew Lloyd Webber's turn to get roasted, I almost got my hopes up thinking about the oh-so-many ways one can make fun of Webber's musicals. Those hopes were, of course, devastatingly crushed. After an endless round of Puccini jokes, the scene ended with minimal laughs and major disappointment.
The scene is set with no props or costumes. The stage is bare except for a piano and a movie screen that catches nothing but notifications of style changes and intermission. I think the biggest disappointment for me was the lack of costumes. How can you not make fun of some of the famous costumes in these musicals? Dolly Levi's "borrowed" gold gown, the country frock of just about every lead woman in a Rogers and Hammerstein musical - the possibilities are endless. And when spoofing Jerry Herman (Hello Dolly!, La Cage Aux Follies), one character decides to go drag, but only verbally, killing what would have been a hilarious sight gag. He merely states that he is now wearing a sequin gown and feather headdress, but it would have been infinitely funnier if he'd actually come out wearing it. Of course, this is impossible for the actor, because he plays the piano the entire time, limiting his interaction with the rest of the cast. He has to play backup while reciting his lines. Rarely do we see the lower two-thirds of his body hidden behind the piano.
The Musical of Musicals - The Musical! tells the basic story of Rent - landlord wants the rent, girl can't pay the rent, wise older woman gives useless advice, boyfriend tries to save the day - in the style of five famous musical composers-lyricists. Each version is supposed to poke fun at some of the stereotypical components and themes in each composer-lyricist's style, but in the end it turned out to be direct quotes and witless humor that was hard to follow if you hadn't seen the specific show they were exploiting at the moment and hackneyed when you did understand.
The first interpretation, titled "Corn," was told in the style of Rogers and Hammerstein and opens with an Oklahoma!-like tune called "Oh, What Beautiful Corn" that drags on for much too long. Once that was over, the first joke was cracked to the reciprocating sounds of crickets chirping. Instead of treading on, the actors would stop and wait, giving the audience enough time to laugh - should they decide to start. The rest of the musical treads on in this manner, picking a specific song from a specific musical and rewriting a few notes and words to get a rare chuckle out of the audience.
By the second interpretation, told in the style of Stephen Sondheim, of Sweeney Todd fame, and not so cleverly named A Little Complex, the jokes had become so corny and witless that the audience literally groaned.
When it was Andrew Lloyd Webber's turn to get roasted, I almost got my hopes up thinking about the oh-so-many ways one can make fun of Webber's musicals. Those hopes were, of course, devastatingly crushed. After an endless round of Puccini jokes, the scene ended with minimal laughs and major disappointment.
The scene is set with no props or costumes. The stage is bare except for a piano and a movie screen that catches nothing but notifications of style changes and intermission. I think the biggest disappointment for me was the lack of costumes. How can you not make fun of some of the famous costumes in these musicals? Dolly Levi's "borrowed" gold gown, the country frock of just about every lead woman in a Rogers and Hammerstein musical - the possibilities are endless. And when spoofing Jerry Herman (Hello Dolly!, La Cage Aux Follies), one character decides to go drag, but only verbally, killing what would have been a hilarious sight gag. He merely states that he is now wearing a sequin gown and feather headdress, but it would have been infinitely funnier if he'd actually come out wearing it. Of course, this is impossible for the actor, because he plays the piano the entire time, limiting his interaction with the rest of the cast. He has to play backup while reciting his lines. Rarely do we see the lower two-thirds of his body hidden behind the piano.
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