So I went in tonight not knowing what to expect. I figured it was going to be a flop, but I didn't think it was going to be this awful. **This review does contain spoilers**
I went with two of my friends Barry and Walter. We sat down in our seats in the back of the orchestra and looked at the set (there was no curtain). It was just a grey brick wall. Walter immediately said "the set looks gorgeous" obviously with tons of sarcasm in his tone of voice. The show didn't start until about 10 after 8pm, but I guess that was expected of a first preview.
The show begins with Vera, JT and Jenny singing "Life Turns on A Dime," one of the songs on the CD sampler. JT and Jenny meet in what appeared to me a diner with bar stools and we find out about JT's tourets. Sometimes, at the end of his sentences, he yells out random words that rhyme with the final word in the sentence. His funniest exclamation was f*ck, suck, duck. Also, at one point (forgive me for not remembering the exact words) he ended a sentence with dime and then added crime, mime, time, LEMON! Jenny said that he should have used the word lime, but JT said he liked lemons so he said that word instead.
Then we are introduced to Winston, a gay guy pretending to be god. He is creating a tragic opera and using two people on earth (JT and Jenny) as the characters. All of Winston's scenes are hilarious and also pointless. He also has the flashiest costumes of the evening...all completely ridiculous. (poor catherine zuber going from LITP to this)
We also meet Al, who is trying to audition for God's opera, but is unsuccessful because Winston doesn't think he is talented enough and he doesn't look right for the part.
Two other characters are Samantha, Jenny's good friend, and Nick, Samantha's boyfriend who died in a car crash.
As stated before, there are way too many storylines going on at the same time and it makes the whole piece a jumbled mess. We find out that JT has a brain tumor and he needs to be operated on immediately or he will die. During one of Winston's songs, he takes a skeleton out of the closet and starts dancing with it. While this is going on, there are projections of dancing skeletons on the wall behind him. He even moves the skeleton's arms and legs to a badly choreographed number. That was truly the highlight for me...since it was so funny.
So basically, Winston wants to create a tragic opera where the man (JT) dies at the end. However, Al wants a happy ending. We find out that Al is really God, and not Winston. So Al decrees that JT survive and gets rid of the tumor so he and Jenny can be married. During the wedding, a huge cardboard lemon comes down in the background and Jenny's bouquet of flowers, is a bouquet of lemons. I think she also had some lemons in her hair.
To fill you in on another side story, Samantha really missed Nick, her boyfriend who is now dead. He died in a car crash. What we find out is that the car Nick hit, had Vera in it. Vera is JT's little sister. Vera and Nick have a chat in heaven and she forgives him for killing her. At one point, Vera sings a song about her new jeans, her favorite shirt with the monsters on the sleeves and her cat named Yoda.
Other highlights were when Al sang a song about a Volkswagen and the song about Dr. Pepper. Also, towards the beginning, when the pirates came out and were singing with Winston, the entire audience was laughing so hard.
There are so many more insane aspects of this show, but you all must see this for yourselves to believe it. I could probably never sit through it again, but it was worth my $30 on tdf.
I was in the back of the orchestra and witnessed approximately 10 people leave the show before it was over. Some of the people who left were in the center orchestra, sitting directly IN FRONT of Joe Brooks, the writer and director or the show. Also, the three people sitting to my right, and the gay couple in front of me couldn't stop laughing...and neither could I. I was trying so hard to suppress my laughter that I found I was crying almost throughout the entire show. I kept looking over at my two friends during the show thinking "what are we watching right now?" During the curtain call, I asked the gay couple in front of us, "what did we just witness?" Their answer: "History!"
I'm sorry if this review was a bit scattered, but the show is as well, so it's only fitting. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Even though the show was awful, if you enjoy flop musicals, this one is a must see. I would not be able to make this stuff up if I tried.
Updated On: 10/1/05 at 02:35 AM
