New in New York
Heading up to New York recently, what with orange dust from Canadian wildfires drifting east and news of tragic wars making headlines, I was in the mood for something that would bring a smile to my face. So no Death of a Salesman for me (tho everyone I know who saw the recent revival loved it); instead, bring on pure mindless, more or less, entertainment. Was I rewarded in this quest? For the most part, yes, and happily so.
I hadn’t seen Schmigadoon!, the TV series, but I approached Schmigadoon!, the Broadway musical at the Nederlander Theatre, having some idea what it was about from reviews and its number on the Tony Awards. Still, I wasn’t prepared for just how much fun and sharp humor was baked into its DNA.
In it, Josh and Melissa, a young-ish couple both doctors, have met cute and been dating for two years, but the zing has been fading in their relationship. Then, during a rainy night on a backpacking hike, they happen upon Schmigadoon, and if I have to explain the reference to the classic Lerner and Loewe musical Brigadoon then tickets to the teenage vampire musical The Lost Boys might be a better option for you.
In any case, Josh and Melissa at first think they’ve stumbled upon a town reenacting village life circa 1910 (tho things do seem to be just slightly off kilter). Eventually, however, they realize they’re in a place inspired by Golden Age musicals (Oklahoma!, Carousel, The Music Man, Finian’s Rainbow, The Sound of Music, etc.) and discover that they can’t leave “until they find true love.” Complications ensue but everything turns out happily ever after.
For this old-fashioned new-fashioned musical, Cinco Paul, who co-created the TV series, has condensed its six episodes into two and a half hours, eliminating the fat and leaving a meaty & endlessly witty book. His music evokes many classic songs of 1940’s and ’50s Broadway, particularly from the Rodgers and Hammerstein canon (Do-Re-Mi and the title tune from Oklahoma! especially come to mind). If some of the denouements can be seen coming from a mile away–after all, the Mayor’s last name isn’t “Menlove” for nothing–that doesn’t detract an iota from the mischievous merriment.
On Scott Pask’s pastel-hued sets, Christopher Gattelli has directed stylishly, finding just the right balance between satire and authentic emotion; for, without the latter, Schmigadoon! would still be fun but hollow at its core. Gattelli also choreographs up a storm of high-kicking, tap-tap-tapping and ever-exuberant dances for his hardworking chorus of a dozen Townspeople.
As Melissa and Josh, Sara Chase and Alex Brightman ground the show with winning, utterly approachable performances that allow us to enter the wacky world of Schmigadoon. One only wishes that Josh, who disdains musicals, gave Brightman, who was a fantastic and wildly iconoclastic lead in School of Rock, more opportunities to sing & dance.
Ana Gasteyer and the cast of Schmigadoon! (photo by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman)
The rest of the cast, including Ana Gasteyer, Ann Harada, and Brad Oscar, are all comic pros, gleefully embracing double entendres and all sorts of other delicious silliness. Special mention must be made of McKenzie Kurtz who, with her rubbery face and ability to make monosyllabic words veerrrrry multisyllabic, shines as Betsy, a man-chasing farmer’s daughter inspired by Ado Annie from Oklahoma!; having already starred on Broadway in Frozen and Wicked, I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more of her. Featured in the first act, I missed seeing Kurtz/Betsy for vast stretches of Act Two.
With its well-deserved Tony Award for Best Musical, Schmigadoon! should be settled in for a long, long run; it’s only scheduled to play, however, until January 3, 2027. If you’re looking for a rollicking fun time, you won’t want to miss it. (https://schmigadoonbroadway.com/)
The same could be said for Titaníque, but since it’ll be at the St. James Theatre only until September 20, run, swim or paddle your way to this “Splash Hit Musical” before it, um, pulls up its gangplank.
Created by Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli, and Tye Blue, Titaníque’s premise may be even more preposterous than Schmigadoon!’s. Titaníque posits that Celine Dion was a passenger aboard the doomed Titanic ship. Well, the doomed Titanic ship of movie fame. Hence, not only does the cast list include Jack and Rose, but we get Victor Garber, who played the ship’s builder, as well. Ridiculous? Yes, but divinely so.
Nothing is sacred in Mindelle/Rousouli/Blue’s MAD Magazine-esque book that’s stuffed, like Schmigadoon!, with puns, double entendres and sight gags, including life-size cut-out images of Carol Channing, Patti LuPone and Nicole Scherzinger. Why them? Because they all starred in shows at the St. James Theatre. Sly references abound, to RuPaul’s Drag Race, natch, but also the musical Chicago and the movie Misery. Why Misery? Cause its Oscar-winning star Kathy Bates appeared in Titanic as (the unsinkable) Molly Brown, here portrayed by the pop/soul diva Deborah Cox.
Mindelle leads the cast as the spotlight-loving Celine Dion and, if she makes clear that Ms. Dion has quite a healthy ego, she invests the French Canadian pop singer with enough of a cheeky playfulness so that she remains fun to be around. The rest of the cast, including Cox, Rousouli (Jack), Frankie Grande (Ariana’s half-brother as Victor Garber), and Layton Williams (as the iceberg that sunk the famous ship, here channeling Tina Turner–don’t ask!), all add to the gaiety.
Yet when Mindelle, Cox and Melissa Barrera (Rose) come together for the Streisand/Dion hit Tell Him, they sing it (mostly) straight…and beautifully.
If the entire cast is grand, one member is first among equals: Jim Parsons as Rose’s mother Mrs. (cue the bukkake joke) Bukater. I hadn’t seen Parsons on stage before and only once or twice on TV; it’s clear, though, that his years of superstardom have given him an extra, ineffable “oomph” that allows him to command a large theater effortlessly, whether it’s making Big Bang Theory fart jokes (emphasis on the “bang”), titanically bitching that “Marla [Mindelle] beat me for the 2024 Lortel Award” (true fact) in a listing of “Not Fair” things, and best of all, ad libbing about The Odyssey, Madonna and gay soldiers the night I saw the show (each performance’s jokes are different, pulled from that day’s headlines) that even had Rousouli cracking up.
Jim Parsons, Frankie Grande and Deborah Cox in Titaníque (photo by Evan Zimmerman)
One bit of lagniappe for New Orleanians attending the Broadway production (Titaníque is also running in London’s West End) is the opportunity to see New Orleans native Polanco Jones, Jr. as one of the three “Background Vocalists”, though he’s often front and center. He also understudies some of the roles and this was one of the rare times when I wished an understudy had gone on. Still, it was a thrill seeing Polanco performing, fabulously, on a legendary Broadway stage.
While, like Schmigadoon!, I enjoyed Titaníque immensely, having seen it three years ago off-Broadway, I couldn’t help thinking that this shamelessly satirical show might be more suitable in a smaller off-B’way venue where the more intimate setting envelopes the audience, an audience, perhaps, more receptive to its transgressive humor. Still, in these challenging times, a visit to the St. James Theatre in the next few weeks just might enable your heart, and certainly your funny bone, to go on. (https://titaniquebroadway.com/)
I was hoping to make it 3 for 3 but, alas, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) broke my streak.
This London import at the Longacre Theatre starts out promisingly. Robin, a tough New Yorker, has gone to the airport to pick up Dougal, who’s in NYC from England for the first time and full of puppy dog-like enthusiasm. They’re about the same age, and his father, whom Dougal doesn’t really know, is about to marry Robin’s sister, an April/September romance; much is made of the fact that Robin’ll soon be Dougal’s “auntie”.
Authors Jim Barne & Kit Buchan clearly want this to be a charming rom-com but, as the story progresses, too many parts of it don’t make sense and not in a good Schmigadoon way which at least has its own internal logic. Motivations are unclear. Characters act in an inconsistent fashion.
All that could’ve been overlooked, perhaps, if the score had bubbled with memorable songs. Of the 16 numbers, however, all are forgettable. Some seem to exist merely to fill the time as they have nothing to do with the plot (On the App and Under the Mistletoe); others have all-too-generic lyrics (This Year); and none have captivating melodies.
On Soutra Gilmour’s set of towering pieces of luggage, which occasionally open to reveal mini-sets, Director Tim Jackson too often permits the dramatic tension to go slack. I can’t entirely blame him as a show like this requires sharper, wittier dialog than the small talk Barne & Buchan provide.
Sam Tutty, as Dougal, is sweet but a pain in the ass, more interested in doing his own thing than really listening to what Robin, whom he’s latched on to, wants. I suppose that’s what the authors intended, but I found him exasperating and thought (I might’ve misunderstood a line) that he was 19, which would’ve been more in-line with how he acts, rather than 25 (according to the NYTimes review).
Sam Tutty and Christiani Pitts in Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) (photo by Matthew Murphy)
Christiani Pitts’ Robin turns out to be more damaged than she at first seems, but the script never fully explores her back story. Still Pitts, who brings an innate warmth to her role, makes Robin a much more believable character than Tutty is able to achieve with Dougal.
One strand of the story I found particularly unsavory. In the first act, there’s an insinuation, by what he says and how he says it, that Dougal may be gay; at least my gaydar was going off. Then, during intermission, at a fancy hotel where (spoiler alert) they’ve shacked up for the night, Dougal and Robin hook up. The following morning, Dougal says words to the effect “Betcha thought I was gay,” followed by “Even Mum wishes I had been gay” as though the authors were playing “Fooled ya” with the audience. Plus, as Dougal kindasorta flirted with Robin in Act One dontcha think a savvy NYer like she is, who probably has some gay friends, would’ve just asked him “Are you gay?” It is, after all, 2026. I found it a bit cringey.
In fairness, the audience around me seemed to enjoy the show. My companion for the evening, a sophisticated lady whom I’ve known for many years, however, left at intermission, apologizing that she just couldn’t take any more of the production. In retrospect, I wish I had joined her. (https://twostrangersmusical.com/)
