SCHMIGADOON — Capsule Review

By Ben Lerner 

In deeply unsettling political times, art can provide essential commentary or essential escapism. Schmigadoon, the loving sendup of Golden Age Broadway musicals based on Cinco Paul’s Apple TV series, is wholly the latter. Like the Celine Dion jukebox musical parody Titanique, reviewed here, it’s silly, campy, and self-aware. Where Titanique is full of references catering to fans of Dion, LGBT culture, and Titanic, Schmigadoon is by and for lovers of traditional musical theatre and is somewhat less niche in its references — and it sticks the landing even better. 

Schmigadoon is pure escapism and a laugh riot directly adapted from but exceeding the impact of its television predecessor. The plot, much of the dialogue, and most of the songs (all by Cinco Paul) are largely unchanged from the series, but a loving parody of an art form in that art form — the traditional two-act structure with a live audience, rather than a six-episode TV show — hits different. In other words, the piece needs laughter to break the fourth wall and remove any seriousness from the narrative, and at the Nederlander Theatre, you are encouraged to laugh at absolutely everything. Parodies are meant to be enjoyed in a group setting!

At Schmigadoon, you don’t need to know Brigadoon or to have watched the Apple series to love it start to finish. What you will need is some prior exposure to traditional Broadway musicals like Oklahoma!, The Music Man, and The Sound of Music, which most do. I’d wager you’d enjoy Schmigadoon without it (it’s less inside joke-based than Titanique) but it’s best if you can catch the clear references to the classic showtunes the musical lovingly parodies and interpolates. You’ll laugh regardless, but if you’re a theatre buff, you’ll catch all the jokes, which come constantly. And unlike Titanique’s (deliberately!) low-budget set and costumes, Schmigadoon makes fun while providing classic Broadway musical production value — multiple sets, an ensemble of top-tier dancers, and all the bells and whistles. 

But the show’s heart is in its satire of classic musical motifs. Each number references classic songs while parodying their cliche nature. Our leads are Josh and Melissa (Alex Brightman and Sara Chase), a couple looking to reignite the spark on a hiking retreat, who get lost and stumble upon a peculiar town called Schmigadoon, where townspeople burst into song spontaneously (something Melissa lives for and Josh abhors). Soon, they learn this isn’t like Colonial Williamsburg, but that they’re living inside an actual classic musical set in the 1940s (ish…the inconsistent era in which it takes place is a running joke). And they seemingly can’t leave. 

The rest of the cast is composed of the Schmigadoonians they meet, all directly pulled from the Apple series that starred an ensemble of bigger names than this adaptation. I dare say the cast improves upon each performance — there are no weak links to be found. Perhaps it’s not so shocking that a cast of Broadway triple threats best parody Broadway musicals, but the onstage structure and live audience surely help. The one exception is Ann Harada, reprising her role from the TV series as the mayor’s ditzy wife. Her husband, who is harboring a secret, of course, was Alan Cumming onscreen and is now Brad Oscar. 

Two deserving performers in the cast received Tony-nominations among the show’s 12. One is the hilarious Sara Chase, recognizable to some from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, who adapts Cecily Strong’s onscreen role as Melissa and blows the roof off the Nederlander vocally. The other is Ana Gasteyer as Mildred Layton (Kristin Chenoweth onscreen), the reverend’s conservative wife, who deliver’s Act 2’s biggest showstopper, “Tribulation,” a brilliant satire of “Ya Got Trouble” from The Music Man. As we expect from the SNL legend, Gasteyer chews the scenery with every line delivery and delivers her signature belting riffs (though the people want even more!).

While Gasteyer slays Act 2, when she’s most featured, I do want to shout out one cast member who was not recognized by the Tonys but delivers a genius comic performance in Act 1. McKenzie Kurtz, as promiscuous waitress and Josh’s love interest Betsy, hams up Dove Cameron’s performance in the role onscreen tenfold. Everything Betsy says and does is hilarious, and, as a former Glinda in Wicked, she has the vocals to match. Other standouts include Max Clayton as Melissa’s love interest, bad boy Danny Bailey (Aaron Tveit onscreen), as well as Isabelle McCalla, a terrific vocalist, as schoolmarm Emma Tate (Ariana DeBose onscreen). 

The Apple TV series’ choreographer, Christopher Gatelli, handily takes the reins directing the stage adaptation, so it’s no surprise the plot and dancing directly mirror the source material. There are some welcome updates, including original songs written for the stage, which made Paul eligible for the Best Score Tony nomination — unlike last season’s Smash, which took its entire score from the NBC series.

The strongest songs here still come from the TV show, and of course, almost all of them are direct interpolations of existing classic showtunes, so he likely won’t win in that category. The Kiss Me, Kate-inspired song “I Always, Always, Never Get My Man,” performed onscreen by Jane Krakowski as a character based on The Sound of Music’s Baroness Elsa von Schraeder, is notably cut onstage and the role reduced. Thankfully, we still get Paul’s hysterical and raunchy sex-ed parody of Maria’s repeat-after-me “Do-Re-Mi.”

There are several new one-liners in Paul’s updated book that are nearly perfect. And there’s one new key plot point — the traditional Act 2 tragic death trope a la Oklahoma! — which is folded in brilliantly and so ridiculously you won’t feel an iota of melancholy. Paul’s super smart addition of something dark in the lightest way possible really solidifies the show’s unapologetically campy and silly tone.

Many songs directly reference recognizable musical theatre cliches, like Clayton’s “You Can’t Tame Me,” Kurtz’s Ado Annie-coded “Not That Kinda Gal,” and Chase and Harada’s duet “What’s The Matter With Men?” — the last two of which are new to the stage adaptation. When Schmigadoon reaches its finale “How We Change,” aptly named for yet another end-of-a-musical motif, the audience has been taken on a joy ride that hilariously pokes fun of and pays tribute to the classic Broadway shows we know and love.

Visit Schmigadoon to escape the real world at the Nederlander Theatre. It’s one of the funniest and most joyful productions the season, and unlike Melissa and Josh, you’ll only be stuck there for a couple hours.