Best Musical
Conceived by Matthew Loren Cohen
Directed by Patrick McKenna
at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont (map)
thru March 6 | tickets: $10-$15 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
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We’d hate to see their worst musical
Porchlight Music Theatre presents
Best Musical
Review by Lawrence Bommer
It’s a cute and gutsy concept—a full-length, entirely improvised new musical performed on the spot and under the gun, so to speak. Conceived and brilliantly accompanied by music director Matthew Loren Cohen, Best Musical allows seven young cast members from The Second City, iO and The Annoyance to pool their creativity, inventing script, dialogue, notes and dances as they put on a show!
The first act imagines a “Bestie Awards” ceremony where each performer conjures up a “best song” based on pre-written audience suggestions from an imaginary show (and neglected treasure) in which they had just starred. Act II, also less than an hour, is devoted to a new show inspired by the “best” song chosen by the audience, complete with costumes and choreography.
On opening night of Porchlight’s current run, the suggested songs included, among others, “Don’t You Want To Take Me on a Gay Cruise?,” “Don’t Play Scrabble with Me,” and the enigmatic “If Joe Can Do It, Anyone Can.” Alas, the audience rejected a promising ballad about storm chasers who fall in love between tornadoes. Their predictable selection was “Freddy Krueger Is In My Furnace.” Well, the first act, which fared better than the second, offered a good showcase for the cast’s ability to mix one tune with another, their songs superbly suggested by the deft and dynamic Mr. Cohen.
Accordingly, the second act’s “new” musical, “Dreams and Nightmares,” centered on a fifth-grade classroom where naps were obligatory (Freddy’s ticket to torture sleepers). Unfortunately, the performers frittered away an already unpromising premise with songs about the school’s clueless principal and an assembly in which the kids will talk about their fears. There was no payoff since no one took a nap and Freddy never appeared. Nope, no furnace either.
Maybe opening night is like the first pancake–it’s a test and should be thrown away. Alas, that happened, all too forgettably even for this transience, on Wednesday as the improvisers failed to push the plot, let alone twist or satirize it. The lyrics were equally lame. But, of course, the audience that sees Best Musical next week could be treated to ad lib excellence. Improv is written on water: My night it was just as well.
Rating: ★★
Best Musical continues through March 6th at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont (map), with performances Wednesdays at 7:30pm. Tickets are $10-$15, and are available by phone (773-327-5252) or online through Stage773.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org.
artists
cast
Kate Cohen, Rebecca Hanson, Randall Harr, John Hartman, Colette Hawley, Tim Ryder, Kevin Sciretta
behind the scenes
Patrick McKenna (director); Matthew Loren Cohen (music director, conceiver, piano); Meghan Teal (stage manager)
13-0210
