REVIEW: Schmigadoon! (Kennedy Center)
Do you have Apple TV+?
Now, I'm squarely in the generation of people who came of age in the trenches of the streaming wars, and I can't say I think about it a lot, much less subscribe to it. None of my peers seem to, either. Squid Game and Bridgerton dominate Netflix, The Bear and Abbot Elementary on Hulu, and whatever the latest MCU or Star Wars show (plus Bluey) does on Disney+. Actually: I think I had it, once, when I got a new phone and got a trial of it. I checked out the first season of Schmigadoon!, a show I only began because of its reverance within theatre circles. This was in 2021 and in the time since, that trial expired, and Schmigadoon! with its cutesy valor was cancelled after an additional season that I did not manage to catch.
But that wouldn't be the end, would it? The cult series has made a rare jump TO the stage instead of from it, and is making its world premier this week as part of the Kennedy Center's Broadway Center Stage series. It's rare this outing of theirs shows off new works, usually just flashy revivals, so I welcome it. But does it live up to its reputation: a clever, entendre-ful slapstick of musical theatre?
Book/Music
I’ll get right to it: it’s functionally the entire first season, chopped from six episodes to just over two hours. In it, the everyperson couple Josh and Melissa are on the rocks after six years of dating. On a hiking trip intended to help them repair the relationship, the pair end up in a storm that whisks them to the hamlet of Schmigadoon, existing is as if the entire place is in a hunky-dory Rodgers & Hammerstein musical (to the initial delight of Melissa and instant chagrin of Josh.) Keen-eyed theatregoers will instantly clock that this riffs on the Lerner and Lowe musical Brigadoon, which follows a similar ordeal. In fact, that sets the tone: be ready for a giddy, innuendo-stuffed onslaught of reference, after reference, after reference of musical tropes and barely-not-a-cover of classic songs. (The title number even ends with a joyful letter-by-letter spelling of the title….it’s “OK”.)
And as someone who’s pretty entrenched in theatre culture? It’s a blast, almost like a Where’s Waldo of musical theatre history. Cinco Paul’s songs and book are highly self-aware pastiches, capturing the jubilant catchiness that made this era of musicals so memorable while interspersing metahumor and deep cut shout-outs. Even when not in song, the dialogue is very sitcomesque, which is punchy and sarcastic when it works. When it doesn’t, it feels like pandering to an audience it knows it has instead of forging a new one. In the grand scheme, this was a niche show on a niche platform. My plus-one had never even heard of it going in. While they did end up enjoying it nonetheless, they shared my sentiments in that the expectation of knowledge going in makes the fuller-on-TV main couple feel ludicrously flat on stage. (It doesn’t help that they go from meeting for the first time to entering the town after a six-year time jump within the first three minutes.) Conceptually, Paul’s trapped-in-a-musical idea is a hilarious home run, yet it still feels trapped-in-a-TV. But it doesn’t need much more work to get out. 8/10
Acting
The great thing about this being a show about the Broadway zeitgeist is that the roles are all effectively wildcards for any big-name theatre performer with the right voice type. For example, the Billy Bigelow stand-in originated by Aaron Tveit in the series, is delightfully brought to light by Ryan Vasquez this go around. Dove Cameron is swapped out for McKenzie Kurtz as Betsy, the Ado Annie character, also with a great childlike glee. Izzy McCalla is now the Paroo-esque teacher originated by Ariana DeBose, in what was my favorite performance. In all, the casting is solid, even if I would have liked to see the original TV cast in these roles (Ann Harada being the only holdover, playing Mrs. Menlove.) This being said, as likeable as Alex Brightman (Josh) and Sarah Chase (Melissa) are as our protagonists, I think I would have preferred stage actors who weren’t also known for their singing as them. It felt like the theatre equivalent of “This person looks like they’ve seen an iPhone". 8/10
Production
Christopher Gattelli directs and choreographs, but somehow does not blow the piece up to the level it should be. Don’t get me wrong: the ensemble dance numbers are superb, especially an Act II classroom number, but it feels like that’s the loudest it ever is, even despite Linda Cho’s candyland costumes. Scott Pask’s painted backdrops are also excellent, but they surround a blank stage for most of the show. It’s as if a great painter were only able to make an beautiful baroque frame for a blank canvas. Some texture to the action could go a long way, in the form of greater physicality or construction; for now, it’s still a feast for the eyes. 8/10
Viz
Nothing evokes the sugar-coated 1910s Music Man environs depicted on the program like….a hospital vending machine. The show introduces itself with a bare stage, save for this prop. I get it: the idea is that Josh and Melissa are normal people who end up in the magical musical world. But would it be so hard to make the normal, real world more…lively? This part goes hand-in-hand with my qualms about the lack of development for the central couple and the empty feeling of the direction — I don’t think it has to play its whole hand, but it can certainly allude to a vibe that it doesn’t currently. 4/10
Verdict
Schmigadoon! is a bubbly musical adventure teeming with fan service for both enjoyers of the show and avid musical heads, but needs some tuning to escape its limited audience. 28/40
