Weston’s ‘Musical of Musicals’ skewers musicals
Theater Review
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David Bonanno and Dorothy Stanley in are pictured in “Corn,” part of Weston Playhouse’s “The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!).” Photo by Hubert Schriebl |
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By Jim Lowe Staff Writer - Published: August 18, 2009
WESTON – Weston Playhouse’s “The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)” is a perfect entertainment for those who love musicals – and those who hate them.
Weston Playhouse Theatre Company opened a brilliantly witty production of this hilarious spoof of Broadway musicals, Friday at its intimate theater in the Weston Rod & Gun Club, featuring four of Weston’s longtime musical stars.
“The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!),” with music by Eric Rockwell and lyrics by Joanne Bogart, premiered off-Broadway in 2005. Each of the five acts act is a short musical in the style of various American and British musical theater creators, all dealing with roughly the same plot: “I can’t pay the rent!”
Perhaps the funniest is “Aspects of Junita!” spoofing the overblown musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Beginning with “Evita,” it includes aspects of “Phantom of the Opera” and “Cats” before it is done. The characters are very Lloyd Webber-like and the music is eerily reminiscent of that of those musicals.
What this show does is places four characters, beginning with “Corn,” poking fun at
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” and moves them from one musical to another. “Corn” is full of the Rodgers and Hammerstein effervescence, adding some wonderful sexual innuendo.
It’s a lot more than innuendo in “Speakeasy” a delightfully raunchy takeoff on the Kander and Ebb creation, “Cabaret.” “Hello Dolly,” the Jerry Hermann creation, hits the bottle in “Dear Abby!” The psych-spoofing is nearly endless in “A Little Complex” – poking fun, not surprisingly, at Stephen Sondheim.
This show is quite simply a lot of fun – in part, because Weston’s four fine performers have so much fun themselves. The ingénue June, who cannot pay the rent, is Susan Haefner; the evil Jitter, who demands she pay the rent or else, is Roger Seyer; Willy, the hero who is supposed to rescue her, is David Bonanno; And Abby, the older woman to whom June turns to for advice, is Dorothy Stanley.
Certainly part of the reason for the cast’s success is that these folks have successfully played some of the same roles they are spoofing. Their intimate interaction and dancing also reflects on their extensive musical theater experience. But mostly they, along with the fine unidentified pianist who has a few lines of his own, have a lot of fun – and so does the audience.
The fast-paced and very imaginative production was directed by Tim Fort, one of Weston’s three producing directors. A brilliantly configured set by Blair Mielnik, fun costumes by Collette Benoit and effective lighting by Travis McHale, all contribute to the skewering.
You certainly don’t have to like musicals to enjoy Weston’s “The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!).”