I first heard of this show about a year ago, and grew increasingly excited about it. After all, it has an amazing premise: the same story told several times over in the styles of different famous musical theatre composers. Furthermore, it was reportedly pretty funny (which makes it a successful spoof show… or the opposite of Forbidden Broadway — by the way, don’t see Forbidden Broadway).
Unfortunately, I started hearing reviews from actual humans about the show (read: not what was regurgitated from the press packets) and became slightly disinterested. Apparently, the show wasn’t as good as advertised. I wasn’t exactly rushing to purchase the $60+ tickets that are up for sale nowadays at Dodger Stages.
The asking price of a ticket being the only major drawback to the show, I grew excited to see free tickets up for grabs in my school’s lobby. That being the case, I found myself later that night inside Dodger Stages — hands down my favorite Off-Broadway theatre space — ready to see Musical of Musicals.
I briefly touched upon Forbidden Broadway earlier in this post. I find it extremely hard to talk about this show without talking about its predecessor, as they have very similar concepts. As I’d soon found out, they had more than that in common. One of the defining characteristics of my Forbidden Broadway experience was a cast of mostly overweight aging actors, which immediately disconnected me from the material. The cast of Musical of Musicals is more of the same. I know it’s ridiculously shallow, but I really don’t immediately connect with a cast of older and less attractive actors than I do with younger, prettier ones.
Anyway, forget about the cast’s relative age and lack of sex appeal. The show should be the most important thing, after all.
That having been said, I found the premise of this show exciting. I liked the selection of composers that were parodied (although I would have argued the order in which they were parodied). I even liked the somewhat pathetic storyline that each of the five mini-musicals were based on.
However, due to my highly critical nature, I have a couple of gripes about the show. Despite being a fan of musical theatre, I found that at least 50% of the jokes contained in this musical went way over my head. In order to fully enjoy Musical…, you need to be familiar with every work that Kander & Ebb, Rodgers & Hammerstien, Jerry Herman, Webber, and Sondheim have ever done. Like most of the general public, I am not in this show’s target demographic (which the show itself even makes fun of — an intelligent strategy, no doubt).
Other than that, I’m always upset that most Off-Broadway shows are extremely lacking in orchestration. By that, I mean that the only “pit musician” was a piano player… who was also an actor. The only song with a bit more “oomph” (for lack of a better term) to it was the pre-recorded finale, which left a bad taste in my mouth.
Allright, I’ll stop bashing the show long enough to throw some praise in there. Joanne Bogart (one of the show’s co-writers) delivers some amazing performances throughout the show. Eric Rockwell (the other writer) also shines as the evil landlord / pianist. I’ll even say nice things about Craig Fols (on the other hand, Lovette George, the remaining cast member, needs to learn how to sing correctly).
In short — is the Musical of Musicals worth it? Definitely not… they’re charging far too much. On the other hand, if you’re getting a deep discount on tickets and there’s nothing good on TV, you may want to check it out. It’ll give you a few laughs (4 out of every 10 jokes… which are all clearly telegraphed and overacted as such… will make you laugh) and you’ll get to visit Dodger Stages (which now has a bar conveniently located every 10 feet).
