The archetypal motion of the show’s committedness to the spot is the 3rd song, a delirious hoedown called “Corn Puddin’,” a parody of inane but delightful vintage numbers specified arsenic “Real Nice Clambake,” “Shipoopi,” and the demented “Turkey Lurkey Time.” Josh rolls his eyes, repulsed by the elbows-out hoofing; Melissa goes native, twangily improvising a verse asking for an “extry” helping. Soon, the 2 leads are flirting (and cavorting) with caller true-love prospects, successful smartly crafted songs that are peppered with meta touches. “Effortless, effortless! This is truthful effing effortless,” Melissa croons successful “Enjoy the Ride,” arsenic she banters with a Billy Bigelow-ish carnival barker. “I wanna sensation the things I’ve ne'er tasted. / Man, your pants are truly high-waisted.” A rowdy riff connected “Ya Got Trouble!,” from “The Music Man,” escalates, alarmingly, into warnings astir “Cows and sheep having amorous congress!” An airy ballad called “Suddenly” beautifully captures the irrational yet irresistible romance that pulses done the genre: “There’s nary consciousness successful trying to explicate it. / What and wherever and wherefore and erstwhile and how. / All I cognize is abruptly I emotion you / and, suddenly, that’s each that matters now.”
“Schmigadoon!” is astatine its funniest erstwhile it tweaks the tradition’s sillier motifs, specified arsenic a assemblage of children nonsensically bursting into laughter astatine the extremity of a song. But the amusement isn’t a finger-wagging critique, fto unsocial an edgy deconstruction—it’s mostly an accidental for the creators to poke gentle amusive astatine the classics portion tapping into the sparkling good they sprang from. If you’re successful a picky mood, you could find flaws: Act I ends with the benignant of brushed cliffhanger that makes much consciousness successful TV. But who cares? The book’s shambolic rhythms wage off, arsenic unit dilatory builds connected Josh to articulation successful alternatively of judging. And, God, the dancing is good: skilled, energetic, joyful.
The formed is excellent, peculiarly Isabelle McCalla arsenic a spunky teacher, Brad Oscar arsenic a closeted mayor, and Max Clayton arsenic that tight-panted carnival barker. Alex Brightman, who was specified a devilish extrovert successful “Beetlejuice,” plays Josh with likable restraint, which makes his inevitable solo consciousness arsenic meaningful arsenic a longed-for kiss.
Still, the standout is simply a performer successful a insignificant role: McKenzie Kurtz, who was the thrilling chaotic paper successful the different disappointing caller revival of “Heathers,” successful which she recovered wiggly layers successful the bitch queen Heather Chandler. As the Ado Annie-like Betsy, a horny teen-ager whose begetter owns a shotgun, Kurtz is playing a quality who should be, and benignant of is, a one-joke punch line. She pulls disconnected her large song, “Not That Kind of Gal,” gloriously, channelling the mid-century musical’s warped blend of libido and innocence. But it’s Kurtz’s carnal performance, particularly her gleaming rictus of a grin—jaw dropped astir to her collarbone, eyes popped arsenic wide arsenic sunflowers—that becomes a awesome of the show’s wholesome appeal, which is each astir being a small spot extry. In the harmless abstraction that is “Schmigadoon!,” there’s nary specified happening arsenic cringe.
The arsenic larger-than-life philharmonic “The Lost Boys” opens with a mysterious bang, and past with a staticky black-and-white day displayed precocious supra the stage: “1987,” shuddering similar a threat. Over loudspeakers, we perceive the syrupy dependable of President Ronald Reagan, droning connected astir household values. Finally, we spot a flashlight—a bull is moving done the inky acheronian of an concern space, unwitting prey for the undead.
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