[title of show] (and yes, that is the actual title of the show) is one of those gems that true theatre aficionados pray for, hoping that some enterprising Toledo-area troupe will someday attempt to mount. And, by Toledo standards, we didn’t have to wait all that long! So kudos to The Village Players for proving once again why they are in the upper echelon of area theatres for taking up the reins and producing this Tony nominated, but little known – outside of New York – truly unique, eccentric, one act musical.
But first. . . a short sidebar. Those of you who claim to be theatre fans and are not familiar with the New York Musical Theatre Festival are really in for a treat if you happen to be traveling to The Big Apple around July 9th – 29. Because that is where it’s happening, folks!
The NYMF, as it’s affectionately known to insiders, was founded in 2004 and has produced, since its inception, over 300 new musicals, 75 of which have gone on to be feted as award-winning productions, in New York, regional theatres in almost every state and in 16 countries world wide. Shows that have begun at NYMF include recent hits “Next to Normal” (Tony nominee and 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner), and off-Broadway hits “Altar Boyz”, “The Blue Flower”, “The Shaggs” and, currently in rehearsal for it’s off-B’way opening, “Fat Camp”.
This year 20 new musicals are already in rehearsal to attend the festival with more being added every day. Short of being ushered through the pearly gates personally by Jerry Orbach and Rosalind Russell, the NYMF may be as close to heaven on earth as theatre freaks get!
So, why the stroll down New York theatre’s more recent past? Because [title of show] is not only an alum of the Festival (2004), but it’s also about the festival. . .in a very off-kilter kind of way. However [tos] is also about friendships, egos, Tony awards, vampires and, of course, monkeys driving speedboats.
[title of show] is about two (by the authors own admission) “nobodies” who find that they have only 3 weeks to write a show for the New York Musical Theatre Festival. (In the original production, songwriter and lyricist, Jeff Bowen and bookwriter Hunter Bell played themselves.). At the risk of choosing confusion over a shorter feature article, the story revolves around two men who are writing a musical for the NYMF about two men who are writing a muscial for the NYMF. Follow me? It gets weirder, and funnier. They bring in two of their best friends to help with the creative process who, by “coincidence”, wind up also playing the women in the “show” and finally act as the voices in the heads of the men as they battle writer’s block, good ideas, bad ideas, doubts, insecurities and their own discouragement.
And while the show has the inevitable happy ending, the saga of the little show chronicles the actual journey from Festival to Broadway that the production itself took, picking up Obie Awards for it’s production at the prestigious Vineyard Theatre and Tony nominations for it’s Broadway run.
So if you like your theatre wild and wacky, ironic and fun, or if you would enjoy a show that sticks it’s own tongue out at itself, or if you enjoy the backstage musical a la “Kiss Me Kate”, and “A Chorus Line”, or if you just enjoy rooting for the underdog, [title of show] may just be the cure for musical theater blahs.
No matter how you slice it, The Village Players have to be commended for taking their collective theatrical machetes and blazing a trail for the new and the virtually unknown, but very exciting, theatre that has been coming out of New York over the past 10 years.
[title of show] runs at The Village Players Theatre, 2740 Upton Ave., May 11 – 26, at 8pm Thursday through Saturday. Tickets are $16 adults; $14 students and seniors. For more info, call 419-472-6827 or visit www.thevillageplayers.org.