'Musical' skewers theater's enduring shows
You don't have to be a theater cognoscenti to appreciate the jokes writers Eric Rockwell and Joanne Bogart liberally sprinkle throughout their oddly titled but affectionately irreverent and utterly entertaining "The Musical of Musicals the Musicals."
But you'll laugh harder if you are.
The show, which opened this week at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, takes as its premise the classic melodrama plot: menacing landlord demands rent from the winsome lass who is unable to pay until the hero intervenes to save the day. Rockwell and Bogart repeat the scenario five times according to the musical styles of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein; Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice and John Kander & Fred Ebb.
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Clearly, composer Rockwell and lyricist Bogart created their tuneful Broadway parody with the aficionado in mind. Rockwell's deftly composed score quotes from some of the 20th century's most famous musicals, revealing a composer intimately familiar with the masters he lampoons. Similarly, Bogart seasons the show with clever puns and pointed observations on Webber's fondness for reprises ("I've heard that song before") and Sondheim's intellectualism ("don't feel obtuse because it's a bit abstruse").
And yet this tuneful show appeals to the casual theater-goer as well. The most familiar sendup comes in the form of "Corn," the Rodgers Hammerstein sendup of "Oklahoma!" with a healthy dose of "Carousel" and some "South Pacific" and "The King and I" flavor as well.
The superb, Sondheim inspired "A Little Complex" (referencing "Company" and "Sweeney Todd" and "Sunday in the Park with George" chaser) centers on a frustrated artist turned murderous landlord. "Dear Abby," the pleasantly anachronistic Herman spoof which conjures "Mame" and "Hello Dolly," unfolds as a star vehicle with multiple costume changes and big entrances utilizing designer Ian Zywica's grand staircase, a nod to excess in a show that unfolds on a minimalist set strikingly lit by Joe Mohamed. In a show that typically eschews elaborate costumes, designer Erin Fast ups the ante, outfitting the cast in everything from frontier wear to little black dresses and mesh shirts. Kristin Gurbach Jacobson also earns praise for her choreographic homage to Agnes De Mille and Bob Fosse.
Rockwell and Bogart reserve their sharpest barbs for Webber, who they skewer in the overwrought "Aspects of Junita" which recalls "Evita" and "The Phantom of the Opera" with hint of "Sunset Boulevard." Lastly, there's the jazzy Kander Ebb satire "Speakeasy," a sleek and sexy scene set in a Chicago cabaret that draws copiously from both musicals and borrows the theme from the 1972 TV special "Liza with a 'Z'." The imaginative romp concludes with a high-stepping parody of Marvin Hamlisch's "A Chorus Line."
Director Robin M. Hughes has assembled a winning cast for her zestful, thoroughly engaging production that balances sincerity and satire.
The occasional intonation problem notwithstanding, the ensemble's attitude is spot-on. The accomplished Katie Siri is terrific as the ingenue; Tom Weber makes a nicely ingenuous hero. "You Make Me Wanna Sing a Show Tune," soft-shoe duet he and Siri perform in "Dear Abby," is a charming tune that wouldn't sound out of place in a legit Herman show. Carrie Wickert is a hoot as the boozy NYC socialite in "A Little Complex" and the modestly talented diva ("I can't sing or dance, yet I'm the star of the show") in "Dear Abby." Then there's Kent Lundsberg Joseph, using his rich, resonant voice to excellent effect as the assorted villains of which his comically unhinged artist/slasher. Kudos to the wonderfully droll pianist/narrator Micky York whose deadpan delivery sells the shtick that flavors this delicious tribute.
"The Musical of Musicals the Musical"
3#189; stars out of four
Location: Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, Arlington Heights
Times: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 7 p.m. Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays through June 21
Running Time: About 1 hour, 40 minutes with intermission
Tickets: $22-$42
Parking: Free lot south of the theater, street parking available
Box office: (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com
Rating: For teens and older, some sexual innuendo