Review: “Schmigadoon” delights with its winking homage to golden age musicals
It had been a busy news week, and the crowd at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater was ready to be entertained last Friday night. Bubblier-than-usual chatter before; cheers at merely the dimming of the lights; and hearty hoots throughout. I guess we could all use a laugh right now, and the world premiere musical “Schmigadoon!” is just what the doctor ordered. It’s a super fun, light, and entertaining show that will put a spring in your step.
An adaptation of the Apple TV series of the same name, it follows the plot of the streaming show closely: Melissa (an excellent Sara Chase) and Josh (Alex Brightman) are a present-day couple who, after six years together, go to a couples retreat in the woods to work on their relationship, only to find themselves lost in the pouring rain. After they cross a small footbridge, they find themselves in Schmigadoon, a riff on “Brigadoon”, that 1947 musical about a Scottish town that appears once every 100 years. The townspeople break into an “Oklahoma!”-inspired opening number. A large ensemble clothed in cotton candy-toned dresses and high-waisted pants (costume design is by Linda Cho) delight us with their rosy view of life in their idyllic town.
Melissa, who loves musicals, claps along with us after the first number—she thinks she’s in a staged attraction, not a real town. That she is watching the number, too, provides a self-referential element which is one key to the show’s success. Melissa and Josh act as stand-ins for the audience, changing how we perceive the exaggerated tropes of the musical numbers—making them funny and not just old-timey. That Josh hates musicals only furthers this self-conscious dynamic: his exasperation every time the company breaks out in song is a wink to the audience about the flimsy reasons some old shows launch into musical numbers.
The couple try to leave the next morning, crossing the bridge only to wind up right back in Schmigadoon. A helpful leprechaun (seriously!) pops up to tell them (and us) the rules of this place: “you can’t leave until you find true love.” After a fight leads them to break up, they have to look to the denizens of Schmigadoon to find their way out. Along the way, they meet a closeted gay mayor, his loving but confused wife (an earnest Ann Harada), a “schoolmarm” modeled after Marian from “The Music Man,” a doctor set in his ways, a Reverend (Kevin Del Aguila, hilariously understated) and his domineering wife (a campy Emily Skinner.) And more! The standout performance of this assured ensemble is by Ryan Vasquez, who brings a suave, classic masculinity to his role as the carnival barker Danny Bailey.
Much of the show’s humor comes from the main characters’ 21st century perspectives on the social mores embedded in older musicals, including negative views on children born out of wedlock, homosexuality, and unmarried people sleeping in the same bed. And yet the delights of the show are its beautiful score, colorful costumes, and classic dance—all the things we love about those old musicals. So it’s poking fun, but in a loving way. Cinco Paul’s jazzy, tuneful songs manage to be earnest and parodying at the same time. His very clever lyrics comment on the goofiness of the song in real time.
Christopher Gattelli’s staging and choreography also drive the laughs. He creates dances that are so self-consciously on the nose—all high knee slaps and twirls—they make you smile. The set from designer Scott Pask includes a beautifully painted backdrop depicting a classic Americana town that is so clearly fake and flat, it’s reminiscent of sets in “The Wizard of Oz.”
Paul has compressed six streamed episodes into a two-act musical, keeping all the songs and instead slimming down the dialogue. The priority here is on the musical numbers, not plot nor depth of character—and that’s just fine. The show knows what it wants to be: effervescent and silly, with no larger point except that classic musical numbers can still shine and thank goodness our society’s values have evolved.
There are lots of characters and subplots, many just serving as an excuse for another song. For example, an Act 2 ode to “Do Re Mi” from “The Sound of Music” has Melissa explaining human reproduction in a song entitled “Va-Gi-Na.” While totally unnecessary—and maybe better off cut—it’s still good for a laugh, and provides one of many easter eggs which musical theater aficionados will enjoy. Others include blossoms thrown into the air by a carnival barker in an “If I Loved You” tribute and a lovely “Shall We Dance” moment. The best number is the Act 1 closer, “Cross That Bridge,” a tune Frank Loesser might’ve written, complete with a high soprano solo a la “Brotherhood of Man.” I can’t get it out of my head.
Brought to life by a bright 13-person orchestra under the direction of Steven Malone and strong vocals, the songs soar. The trick with writing musical parodies is to make them sound enough like the original to be recognizable, but also be their own, beautiful creation; Paul achieves this throughout, with truly great bops that had my toes tapping. (You can listen to the score from the Apple TV show here.)
The production is part of the Kennedy Center’s “Broadway Center Stage” series, which presents original productions of musicals with top-notch Broadway talent. It’s a wonderful niche in the DC theater landscape, as distinguished from touring musicals which the Kennedy Center usually programs and are carbon copies of Broadway productions with different casts. While the series has previously presented revivals, producing a world premiere like “Schmigadoon” is a new move, and one I applaud whole heartedly! We are a full-fledged theater town, gosh darn it, and we deserve big, splashy productions of new work. I hope the series will continue including new musicals in the future—it’s worth the risk.
In the end, the residents of Schmigadoon are changed for the better by Melissa and Josh’s modern influence: the gay mayor comes out and finds love while the others tell truths about themselves they’ve kept hidden. But Melissa and Josh are also changed by the experience. Maybe these old shows, as dated as they might seem, have something to teach us about love after all. Or maybe not. You’ll laugh so hard, it really won’t matter!
Playing through February 9th at the Kennedy Center. 2 hours and 35 minutes including one intermission.
Learn more: Washington Post: How ‘Schmigadoon!’ went from TV show to stage musical
See you at the theatre!