#1
Posted: 5/6/25 at 9:05pm
Has anyone seen this yet? Reviews on ShowScore are…not great, which is disappointing, but would love to hear more thoughts.
THE LAST BIMBO OF THE APOCALYPSE
#2
Posted: 5/6/25 at 9:25pm
I saw it over the weekend, and yeah, the reviews are not wrong. It's a travesty. The whole thing is just riddled with that specific brand of gay male misogyny disguised as "yas queen" empowerment. Aside from the music (loud, repetitive, largely forgettable), the book is downright incoherent at the best of times.
#3
Posted: 5/7/25 at 1:06am
Saw this tonight as part of my New Group subscription. Whew .... I didn't mind most of the humor but agree the music and much of the casting is kind of lackluster.
Most offensive/concerning/distracting is the late-show decision to costume one of the characters in an "Investigate 9/11" t-shirt where the 11 is represented by pink-bejeweled Twin Towers. It definitely works for the character but so would almost any other conspiracy theory reference when the show is playing at a theater where you can see One World Trade Center from the street.
Updated On: 5/7/25 at 01:06 AM
#4
Posted: 5/7/25 at 1:18am
As Orson Welles allegedly said when Peter Bogdanovich told him the title of PAPER MOON: “That title is so good, you shouldn't even make the picture, just release the title!”
Here's a show where the title is waaaay more fun than the musical itself. The show is tonally all over the place but becomes quite boring and more serious as the second half goes on.
Updated On: 5/7/25 at 01:18 AM
#5
Posted: 5/7/25 at 1:52am
I saw this over the weekend and actually had a great time. It feels like someone’s idea during a party game of “what’s the craziest thing that could be a musical” and then they actually wrote it. I found it to be totally original and pretty funny with just the right amount of pathos. The performances are all strong. Shapiro especially is perfectly cast in the least “showy” role, and grounds the musical with her special mixture of strength/ease/melancholy.
Refreshing to see a show not use projections especially when much of the plot takes place online.
I hope that the moments of silence between scene and song tighten up before opening.
overall, I really enjoyed this and have recommended it to certain friends.
#7
Posted: 5/8/25 at 8:30am
This show adds up to a whole lot of nothing. It feels like it’s trying to be satirical but there’s no wink to the audience at all. Also while some of the vocals were stellar, others were… quite bad. Honestly I felt embarrassed for everyone on stage.
#8
Posted: 5/8/25 at 5:29pm
I actually really enjoyed this show. I was nervous as the writeups on here and Show Score were really bad but I had a lot of fun. It might have took a little bit too get into it but once I did, I really had a great time and felt the show got better as it went on. It's fun, campy and has a bit of a true crime/mystery element. Overall thought the music was catchy and the cast had great voices. I was impressed with the cast but the actress who played the Mother was particularly amazing, I will make a point to see her in anything she does in the future.
Updated On: 5/8/25 at 05:29 PM
#9
Posted: 5/8/25 at 7:33pm
MOTHER! is played by Sara Gettelfinger.
#10
Posted: 5/14/25 at 8:48am
1 Minute Critic
https://1minutecritic.com/last-bimbo-of-the-apocalypse-review/
Breslin and Foley, Pulitzer Prize finalists for their oddball dystopian play Circle Jerk, short-circuit our obsession with celebrity while revealing the isolating effects of growing up online. Packed with 20 years of pop culture references, the musical captivates in its unapologetic nicheness. Does it matter how familiar you are with Spears, Lohan, Hilton, or aughts pop culture? Not really, but it probably helps. When “YOLO” becomes the clue to cracking a cold case, it encapsulates how yesterday’s throwaway slang can become today’s cultural artifact.
#12
Posted: 5/15/25 at 10:55pm
I think because everyone I know hated this with a burning passion, I went in with the lowest of expectations and God forgive me, but I had a good time. I love dark humor and this had quite a bit of it that did make me laugh - things most shows/people would say “you can’t joke about that” they dared to, which I will always appreciate.
I’m also very taken with Milly Shapiro who is such an immensely singular talent that I just couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I hope she continues to find work on stage in musicals because she’s too special to be sidelined from them for another decade.
But anyways - great musical? No. Good time? Yeah.
Updated On: 5/15/25 at 10:55 PM
#13
Posted: 5/16/25 at 12:03am
Milly Shapiro is why I'm interested in this at all. She's such a unique talent waiting to breakthrough as an adult in a major way.
#14
Posted: 5/16/25 at 9:01am
I saw this a few nights ago and agree with what Jordan says - I think my expectations were so lowered going in that I ended up being pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It certainly isn't the greatest thing to hit the stage, but it was an entertaining 90 minutes with some superb vocals and a score that I thought captured the early 2000s pop sound pretty well. I don't necessarily seeing it having a life beyond this production, but I'd definitely give a cast recording a listen should one get produced.
#15
Posted: 5/24/25 at 11:48pm
while it gets close to messy at times, i sure wasnt bored with all the twists and turns and pop songs. it fails when it tries to Make A Point, and its humor is pitched at a very specific person (that isnt me...) but between all these pratfalls, it can be fun.
whats undeniable is the talent of this cast-- Natalie Walker walks away with her song, Luke Islam is doing these vocal runs and lewks like he was born to do, and both Keri Rene Fuller and Milly Shapiro are giving really centered, considered performances amongst all the noise and flash. Fuller's voice is especially powerful.
i doubt this has much life in any bigger houses, but the musics good enough that I hope we see more from this team down the line.
#16
Posted: 5/25/25 at 12:17am
Natalie Walker's stylist song is one of the best things in any show running right now. Incredible performance from her. Did not care for anything else in this though.
#17
Posted: 5/25/25 at 7:45am
Generic pastiche of every contemporary musical within the last decade. Yikes.
#18
Posted: 5/25/25 at 9:18am
I was tempted enough to buy a cheap ticket to this last week. It’s…a strange one.
I found it sporadically fun, tuneful in spots, but overall very uneven. The jarring pivot into seriousness was unexpected and unearned, in my opinion. The whole thing suffers from a bit of an identity crisis. I wished it was more laugh out loud funny throughout.
The performances are mostly pretty strong though - especially the women. Natalie Walker’s song is terrible, but she somehow managed to make it a highlight. Would’ve loved to see her take on Celine in TITANIQUE.
Overall though, a disappointment.
#19
Posted: 5/25/25 at 2:59pm
Natalie Walker is a performer who is consistently able to turn whatever she's given into gold (see also: Big Gay Jamboree). Hopefully one day she'll land a role already worthy of her talents.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#20
Posted: 5/25/25 at 10:26pm
I don't know how it ends yet, but from everything I've read, this sounds like it's "Velvet Goldmine" with a yassification filter on it.
I'm not entirely against it.
