Erika Courtney
It’s a musical… of musicals.
Friday, March 19, 2010 | 12:10 p.m.
Calendar
- What: The Musical of Musicals: The Musical
- When: 8 p.m., March 19 and 20; 2 p.m., March 21
- Where: UNLV's Black Box Theatre
- Cost: $15; unlvtickets.com
- For more information: 895-2787
Gleeks, show queens and folks who just like musical theater a lot: The Musical of Musicals: The Musical is for you. The melodramatic plot is shamelessly primitive: Threatened by her lustful landlord, ingenue June can't pay her rent–will the handsome leading man come to the rescue?
But as with many musicals, the story is just a framework for the songs—in this case, a mashup of five original mini-musicals, each performed in playfully parodic homage to the instantly recognizable style of an iconic Broadway composer. Getting affectionately tweaked: the homespun hokum of Rodgers & Hammerstein ("Corn"), the anthem-addicted divas of Jerry Herman ("Dear Abby"), the gaudy grandiosity of Andrew Lloyd Webber, the skin-deep stylishness of John Kander and Fred Ebb, and the angsty self-seriousness of Stephen Sondheim.
The off-Broadway hit has been adapted and directed by Josh Penzell, a UNLV MFA student, who beefed up the Nevada Conservatory Theatre cast, and calls Musical "a smart show."
"It's just not especially deep," he laughs.
— Originally published in Las Vegas Weekly
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy