When Kevin Gillese arrived in Atlanta two years ago to run Dad’s Garage, the Inman Park theater known for its gonzo improv style, he didn’t seem too keen on musical theater. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before this love-hate relationship would spawn a satire.
“Musicals Suck, The Musical,” with music by Eric Frampton and a book by Travis Sharp and Gillese, is Dad’s clever and imaginative response to the essential divide between the musical geeks and the musical haters of the world. A musical fairy tale of sorts, it bashes the form with a gentle hand, some perky tunes and bag full of surprising zingers about dating, office politics, baristas and grappa.
It begins when Sydney, a little girl in pink ruffles, is traumatized by a bunch of adult troupers who harangue her for wreaking havoc on their performance. Sydney’s spontaneous utterance gives this show its name and her psychological conflict propels this girl-meets-boy spoof down a well-trod path of loss and triumph.
In ridiculing the formulaic structure and trite romantic material that typifies even the best musicals, “Musicals Suck” riffs on everything from “Oklahoma!” and “Cats” to Sondheim and Fosse. To its credit, it also displays the subversive charm of “Urinetown” and “Portlandia” and a bit of the comic book-style posturing that informs the Dad’s brand.
Sharp, we should point out, was a co-writer — with Matt Horgan and Frampton — of Dad’s terrific “Song of the Living Dead” (2008) and the solo scribe behind “Lawrenceburg” (2006), which used his fine understanding of “Star Wars” and “The Dukes of Hazzard” to describe the deterioration of small-town America, with no thanks to Walmart.
For all its raucousness, “Musicals Suck” does not traffic in the kind of extreme gore and perversion that has defined so much of the Dad’s canon. That it gets its point across without offending may be a good thing. That it zips along fairly seamlessly and looks polished and professional is another plus.
As a series of video titles mocks the “rules” of musical theater construction (“the first song after intermission is meaningless"), Sydney’s romantic foibles come to bear. Played as an 8-year-old Baby June type by Karen Cassady, Sydney is suddenly transformed (via another theatrical cliché) into a young woman (Whittney Millsap), who works in the same office with her boyfriend, Chuck (Z Gillespie). Chuck happens to be — wait for it — a musical theater lover. (Uh-oh.)
A major distraction to Chuck’s wooing is office boss Darcy (Gina Rickicki), a stock villain who is determined to have her underling by hook or by crook. When Sydney is cursed by a Bloody Mary type (see “South Pacific”), she falls into a rabbit hole that is her worst nightmare. Will she get the boy? Will she overcome her fear of musicals? You don’t need a doctorate in theater history to see how this will end.
If "Musicals Suck" feels a little half-baked at times, the performances redeem. Millsap makes for a lovable ingenue, Rickicki is a trademark evil woman and Gillespie is good as the boy caught in the middle. Their narrative arc (ahem) moves along to the groovy songs of Frampton and the audience gets two acts in 75 minutes.
When all is said and done, “Musicals Suck” is a likeable romp graced with some deliciously quirky writing. It feels almost like kiddy fare compared to the Dad’s of yore. Musicals may suck for some. But happily this one doesn't.
Theater review
Grade: B -
“Musicals Suck, The Musical”
8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. Also, 8 p.m. Monday, June 18. Through June 30. $14-$20. Dad’s Garage, 280 Elizabeth St, Suite C-101, Atlanta. 404-523-3141. www.dadsgarage.com
Bottom line: A fun riff on a beloved genre.
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