The problem with musicals is that real people don’t just burst out into song and dance.
That’s the biggest objection I hear when I tell people I like theater.
It’s also Josh’s frustration in “Schmigadoon!”, one of the new musicals gracing Broadway this season. Josh and his long-term partner Melissa, in the midst of a later-term relationship squabble, find themselves lost in the woods when they stumble upon Schmigadoon, a town where everyone is in a musical.
Schmigadoon is completely out of Josh and Melissa’s reality: set in god knows what year, but a distinctively older one, filled with beautifully colored costumes (by Linda Cho), and of course, a cast of people ready to burst into song at any moment. Don’t order the corn puddin’ at the local restaurant if you don’t want a full-blown musical number.
Yet despite its fabricated world of constructed colors and Golden Age musical numbers, “Schmigadoon” offers real, authentic heart.
The musical follows closely to the plot of the Apple TV show, “Schmigadoon,” that starred the likes of Keegan Michael Key and Cecily Strong. Melissa (here played by a fantastically charming Sara Chase) is a lover of musicals and a romantic. She immediately takes to the whimsical, magical, and nonsensical premise of the town. Josh (Alex Brightman, not given the opportunity to sing enough in this musical!) does not. When they’re welcomed to the town in full song and dance, Melissa starts bouncing along, while Josh yells that they’re not paying for the performance.
But it doesn’t matter whether or not whomever is bought into whatever Schmigadoon is. Both Melissa and Josh are stuck there, told by a leprechaun that they can’t get out until they cross the exit bridge with their true love. And while they say they love each other, their relationship is on the verge of fracturing: Melissa is angry with Josh for not expressing his love more often and more clearly, and Josh is convinced he shouldn’t have to. When they try to cross the bridge together and get out, they end up right back in Schmigadoon.
What ensues is a whirlwind of adventures as the two of them go their separate ways to try and find their way out. Each adventure takes directly from a Golden Age musical (“Schmigadoon!” itself is a play on “Brigadoon,” a musical about tourists who get stuck in a magical village). There’s the carnival owner who sings lovingly a la the lead in “Carousel” and the school teacher with a younger brother with a lisp, a la “The Music Man.” There’s an ensemble of men with bowties and women with flouncy skirts and high-heeled boots that comes in for big numbers, including a tap break. The tunes emulate the melodies of the Golden Age; I found myself humming along, then realizing later which show they tracked to.
Yet you don’t need an ounce of musical theater knowledge to enjoy the campy, whole-hearted energy of the Schmigadoon ensemble of characters. Whether or not you know a song about teaching a pregnant woman about genitals is a spoof of “Do Re Mi” from “The Sound of Music” doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly funny.
What works best about “Schmigadoon!” is the commitment to that campiness and its contrast with the modern, human element Melissa and Josh bring. The Schmigadoon people take themselves absolutely seriously in their Golde -Age musical theaterness; it’s comical when Melissa and Josh point out their fallacies and the many ways their beliefs do not age well. One of my favorite moments was when an overly flirtatious Betsy (a la Ado Annie in “Oklahoma”) insists she’s “Not That Kinda Gal” but keeps pulling phallic items from her picnic basket. Josh peppers the song and dance with comments about her nebulous age—something these musicals often failed to reconcile.
While these modern comments are funny, the best thing Melissa and Josh bring to Schmigadoon is a human emotional depth. While their relationships with other Schmigadoon characters feel often fleeting, their relationship with one another becomes even more real as they figure out how they do and don’t fit together. They may be stuck in a magical land, but what they feel are universal human pains. Melissa wants to be openly, publicly, unabashedly loved. Josh is so used to keeping within himself he’s not sure how to express love openly to anyone, let alone someone he does truly love.
Their emotional depth opens the eyes of the Schmigadoon people. Characters that were feeling some type of way before (like the quite transparently closeted gay mayor) are now free to express themselves authentically, even if it might not fit into a perfect rhyme or dance move. What they’ve done is embellished the brightness of musical theater with the depth of real, human emotion—revealing it was actually there all along.
Because it’s true: musicals don’t completely reflect our true ways of being. We don’t burst out into an elegant, well-rhymed chorus or tap number when we’re overwhelmed with joy or sadness. But they can still represent real, human emotions. And in the end, that’s what “Schmigadoon!” does best.
How to See “Schmigadoon!” On Broadway
“Schmigadoon!” is now open on Broadway, with tickets available through the beginning of September.
How I found out about it: I was a fan of the Apple TV series (will they also adapt the second season, “Schmicago”???) and had seen the buzz when they’d done a run of this at the Kennedy Center at the beginning of last year. I’d been waiting for an NY transfer announcement ever since!
Why I went: Do I look like I hate fun? “Schmigadoon!” was a joyous TV show with a lot of heart, and the musical definitely translates that.
How I got tickets/How to get cheap(er) tickets: Theatre Development Fund (TDF)! They have $64 tickets. There’s also a $45 digital lottery and $40 in-person rush tickets.
And until they release Into the Schmoods (no, I’m not kidding), I’ll be buying this tote bag.
