REVIEW: The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical (Signature)

“No, I don’t really know who he is, either.”

That’s how I replied to my partner when, at Untitled Unauthorized.. at Signature, they asked who the subject even was. I was vaguely aware of the name before I showed up to Sig’s season-closing romp; I’m familiar with “gonzo”, though more in a Muppet sense than journalistically. (Does vice.com from 2009-2014 count?) Both them and others in the millennials-cuspers-zoomers cohort at my performance also admittedly didn’t know who this musical would be about. So it begs the question: who is Hunter S. Thompson, and why should we care about him? Seemingly he’s important enough for a buzzy original musical with the likes of Joe Iconis and Chris Ashley behind the scenes (and even a dedicated instagram page, perhaps hinting at larger aspirations).

And now having seen the show, I still don’t really have those answers. But in Signature’s attempt to put on the musical event of the summer, I definitely did have fun: from high production values, a couple of stunning performances, and even some nuanced reflection of the failures of the hippie era, there’s a lot to love at this nameless biomusical.

Book/Music

Joe Iconis is on libretto duty for this one, which initially had me on edge — I was not a fan of his 2015 work Be More Chill, which was taking off when I was in my college theatre classes. And lo: the eye-rolling lyrical laziness and a generic pop-rock sound from the latter are present. But there’s certainly a noticeable increase in maturity in Untitled, which tackles a larger range of themes and the hiccups are decidedly minimized. Some numbers are even quite good, such as the bombastic Act II opener in which Richard Nixon self-importantly threatens Thompson with jazz hands and sparkles, but it is truly only fully realized with an in-person viewing versus just hearing it. The plot itself follows a pretty direct “here’s what happened, in order” flow typical of bio-musicals, covering the controversial journalist and counterculture author behind Hell’s Angels and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It ultimately doesn’t serve the subject in the ways it probably should have; for someone that built a career off of ridiculous exaggeration and critique in a means of avoiding “squareness”, why avoid it for as dynamic an art form as theatre? The matter-of-factness is much too square for the expectation set in the fourth-wall-shattering opening number. This is perfectly encapsulated in its conversely lackluster closing number, which eschews the vivacious off-kilter personality the show has built for two and a half hours in favor of a bland “Be Yourself!” tune. But the second act is otherwise much more serious in tone, both in its new themes and how it grapples with the established ones. The sense of moral superiority being all fabricated in the face of a failed societal upheaval becomes a little more close-to-home when you think about how five years ago, thousands were in the streets even in the face of a pandemic, and yet we still find ourselves where we are today. Thompson may have inspired an entire generation of freaks to take over documenting society. Is it time for a new one? (Will it even be legal by the time it gets here?) With some untying of the laces, there could be hope for this scatterbrained musical fiesta yet. 7/10

Acting

Eric William Morris (hey!) is simply all over the place with his Dr. Thompson. He’s careless, erratic, snide, and selfish — which is exactly what makes him so good in this role. In fact, the cast is full of talent that shines thanks to Iconis’ tendency to write big, one-off character numbers that rival mainline tracks. George Salazar gets the loud, rebellious moment he deserves, ands Tatiana Wechsler is a superbly spunky Sandy, Thompson’s mistreated wife. But who I can’t stop thinking about is the wonderful Richard Nixon. (A sentence I’ve never, and likely will ever again, thought or said.) George Abud is electric — impossible to look away from or try to ignore, his magnanimous comic relief that slowly evolves into a narrative force against Thompson that pulls no punches. It’s a constant treat when he enters a scene as a sort of ghostly figure to goad Thompson against his ideals. Abud was great in both The Band’s Visit and Lempicka, but it’s this ragtag musical in Virginia that he’s been the strongest inso far, and I have half a brain to buy a ticket again just for him. 9/10

Production

Signature has a reputation for their gaudy production designs, so the bar is naturally much higher for them. It’s one thing to have splashy set pieces, but gimme more. Something like…puppets.

Great news for me then: there’s a ton of them in this, in a variety of outlandish ways. A group called the “Animal Cracker Conspiracy” has gifted us with Bridget Rountree and Iain Gunn’s stunning puppetry, between an eagle that drops dead out of the sky, a ratty motorcycle dog, a drug-addicted peacock, and one parading president that totally knocks your socks off. Seldom do you get a show so committed to the practicality of puppet players, and that’s an instant full score for me. It doesn’t hurt to have creatively offbeat direction from Ashley and great music stylings from Rick Edinger, too. 10/10

Viz

Signature is leaning heavily into the trippiness of the man’s Fear and Loathing persona for much of its marketing, with casual drug imagery and sickly colorations. I was expecting something similar when I walked into their MAX theatre, but instead there’s a imposing wooden wall of trinkets, tchotchkes, tapestries, and tradeables that is stuffed with details that I spent the evening trying to decipher (thanks, Wilson Chin!). Think: beer cans, deer heads, guns, posters, all sorts of random late-20th-century goodies that characterize Thompson’s remote Colorado cabin where he lost his mind in his late career. It thankfully doesn’t change much over the course of the show, which maintains the business it needs to capture his lifestyle. 9/10

Verdict

You may not know much about Hunter S. Thompson before or after, but you certainly won’t forget the name thanks to Signature’s inventive new musical about him. 35/40