vintage_belle | The Musical of Musicals the Musical! review (Reply)

TMoMtM is a satire on, you should have guessed it, musicals. There are four people, two men and two women, who play their four characters in the style of the following composers (in order of scene): Rodgers & Hammerstein (mainly based on Oklahoma!, with a good deal of The Sound of Music and a little Carousel), Stephen Sondheim (mainly based on Into The Woods with a good deal of Sweeny Todd and a little Company, Jerry Herman (mainly based on Hello Dolly! with a little Mame and La Cage aux Folles), Andrew Lloyd Webber (mainly based on Evita with a little bit of Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard - and was the most disappointing of the set), and Kander & Ebb (based on Chicago and Cabaret - and was the best of the set).

The set up of the show is that there are only four actors, playing out different "musicals" in the styles listed above - all of which have the same plot. The plot of all these musicals?: Rent. "I can't pay the rent!" "You must pay the rent!" "I can't pay the rent!" "You must pay the rent!" "I'll pay the rent!" Over and over and over - it was hilarity in and of itself. Each actor plays the same character type, but the name changes with the different styles (remember, in order, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim, Herman, Lloyd Webber, and Kander & Ebb). So, the name changes are as such: (Hero) Big Willy, Billy, William, Bill, Villy; (heroine) June, Jeune, Junie Faye, Junita, Juny; (landlord) Jidder, Jitter, Mr. Jitters, Jutter; (advice-giving support role) Mother Abby, Abby, Auntie Abby, Abigail Von Schtarr, Frauline Abby. Joanne Bogart (playing the advice-giving support role) is excellent in her role - really the best of them all - giving advice that is of absolutely no help whatsoever, and living it up. She also wrote the lyrics to the songs - which are nothing short of fantastic. Eric Rockwell (playing the landlord and piano) wrote all the music and is definitely the second best in his role as the token 'bad guy'. He has exceptional fun playing Jutter, the very gay emcee, during the Kander & Ebbs set and then during the finale.

The only problem with this show is that you really have to know your musicals to understand a lot of the jokes in song, because the producer either didn't get or didn't want the royalties to the really memorable and well-known songs from the shows parodied. The Andrew Llyod Webber satire set was the most disappointing because I kept expecting someone to break out into either 'Memory' or 'Music of the Night' (with different words, obviously) but no one did. There was also almost no reference to Phantom or Cats, barring a token "ripping off of the mask and revealing a hideous cat-like face". The music was all original, but with hints of the shows it was based on. The Kander & Ebb satire set was the best, and funniest, because rather than worry about the music, the actors could camp it up with the chairs, doing the dances from Chicago (in the manner of the 'Cell Block Tango' and the finale).

All in all, it's a worthwhile show, though, and I was near tears laughing.

So after the horrors of what was supposed to be my first lesson on the 31st, the driving teacher and I finally met this afternoon for my first offical driving lesson. Now, dad's taken me out a couple times before - first to Delancey street under the bridge, then to a high school parking lot in New Rochel, and most recently to the edge of Long Island City. None of these places compare to driving in the city. Cabs coming at you - always in your blind spot - trucks stalling in front of you, ambulences with sirens on coming up behind you, pedestrians who are really fucking stupid when making jay-walking decisions - the list of obsticles and potential fatalities never ends. The problem is that when you're with an instructor, you can't side-swipe and run because the instructor is in the car and has a cell phone. Sad. Driving in New York City. Fun.

Tomorrow we're going up to Pittsfield for the weekend. Should prove to be much fun and relaxation - jet skiing will be involved 8D So, if you can't catch me online for the next few days, that's why. I'm not here.