Even if you smell Something Rotten!, it's plenty fresh, having opened in April of this year...the cast album was just released and I have been playing it all week, in my car, in the shower, and now in my head (can't change the station in there, now can I?). Like Spamalot, it's a grand irreverent parody of everything Medieval, Literary, and Theatrical: The Renaissance, Will (The Bomb) Shakespeare, The Black Death, and best of all, The Musical. So if you like any of the above (and who doesn't!) (oops, not the death part), you'll have found a new musical comedy to love. Heavily salted (okay, there's several shakers in there, plus a salt lick for those who like a more visceral experience) with references to: Rent, Gypsy, Annie, South Pacific, A Chorus Line....plus Shakey's sonnets and plays and characters and...well, it's quite the blended smoothie...of theatre in general. You'll cry for more. Or just moan at the puns.
So now I'll stop my adoration for all things middle-aged and over the top (sorta like me) and talk about the rest of the playlist.....We've got City of Angels (that Cy Coleman murder mystery musical that I love), plus a song from Barnum, which he also wrote (which I find incredibly irritating, but hey, never let it be said that I am judgmental. Never.) A little Baker Street, which is only one of the many Sherlock Holmes musicals...and a dash of Me and My Girl, another English-y show with cockneys and mussels, alive a-live-oh. That flop, Minnie's Boys, will make an appearance, along with L'il Abner and Daisey Mae and Marryin' Sam.
So from L.A. slick to Dogpatch to the lower east side to ....Merry Ole England. Doesn't the musical just take us everywhere?
A Musical (Brian D'Arcy James, Brad Oscar, Something Rotten!)
I Hope I Get It (Company, A Chorus Line)
I Can Do That (Wayne Cilento, A Chorus LIne)
Nothing (Priscilla Lopez, A Chorus Line)
Prologue/Theme From City Of Angels (Gregg Edelman, Ensemble, City Of Angels)
The Buddy System (Rene Auberjonois, City Of Angels)
You Can Always Count On Me (Randy Graff, City Of Angels)
It's So Simple (Fritz Weaver, Peter Sallis, Baker Street)
Leave It To Us, Guv ("The Baker Street Irregulars", Baker Street)
The Family Solicitor (George S. Irving, Me And My Girl)
Leaning On A Lamppost (Robert Lindsay, Me And My Girl)
Mama, A Rainbow (Daniel Fortus, Shelley Winters, Minnie's Boys)
Once Upon A Time (Ray Bolger, Eileen Herlie, All-American)
Join The Circus (Jim Dale, Barnum)
Happily Ever After (Carol Burnett, Once Upon A Mattress)
Easy Street (Robert Fitch, Dorothy Loudon, Barbara Erwin, Annie)
If I Had My Druthers (Peter Palmer, L'il Abner)
I'm Past My Prime (Edie Adams, L'il Abner)
Jubilation T. Cornpone (Stubby Kaye, L'il Abner)
Beauty School Drop Out (Marya Small, Alan Paul, Grease)
Alone At The Drive In Movie (Barry Bostwick, Grease)
Grease (Frankie Valli, Grease)
Welcome To The Renaissance (Michael James Scott, Company, Something Rotten!)
Hard To Be The Bard (Christian Borle, Something Rotten!)
Something Rotten/Make An Omelette (Brian D'Arcy James, Company, Something
Rotten!)
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