‘SCHMIGADOON!’: The cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

SCHMIGADOON!
Book, music & lyrics by Cinco Paul
Based on the Apple TV+ series “Schmigadoon!” co-created by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio
Directed & choreographed by Christopher Gattelli
Through January 3, 2027
Nederlander Theatre
208 West 41st St.
https://schmigadoonbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

No, this isn’t another revival of Brigadoon. Schmigadoon! affectionately goofs on the Golden Age of Broadway with a snarky, modern sense of humor.

Schmigadoon! is based on the 2021 Apple TV+ series co-created by Cinco Paul. The show draws inspiration from classic Broadway musicals, including Brigadoon. That original property later became a 1954 film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Gene Kelly.  It follows two New Yorkers who stumble upon a mystical Scottish village that appears once every 100 years.

However, don’t come to this must-see show expecting anything remotely like the original. Instead, Schmigadoon! delivers a colorful, feel-good send-up of Brigadoon and countless classic musicals of yesteryear. It’s consistently funny, and it ranks among the season’s best new musicals.

In this version, the stage adaptation resets the premise with a modern twist. It relocates the action to a fictional town somewhere in North America rather than Scotland. At the center is a New York couple with romantic problems. Josh (Alex Brightman) is a sarcastic doctor with commitment issues, while his girlfriend Melissa (Sara Chase) wants something more. Soon, they’re transported to a strange town where everything seems picture-perfect at first. However, appearances quickly prove deceptive.

Schmigadoon is a make-believe town that blends elements from many classic Broadway musicals. Here, characters burst into high-spirited, emotional production numbers in technicolor style. Before long, Josh and Melissa learn the rules: no one can leave this idyllic place until they find “true love.” Naturally, things get complicated. Both are tempted by beguiling locals. As a result, the town’s charm begins to expose the cracks in their relationship.

‘SCHMIGADOON!’ Ana Gasteyer (center) & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

The townsfolk

The town’s filled with characters who serve as affectionate composites of vintage Broadway musical archetypes.

For example, Mildred Layton (Ana Gasteyer), the preacher’s wife, parodies Eulalie Shinn from The Music Man. She claims her great-great-grandfather founded the town. As a result, she sees herself as the ultimate arbiter of morality. She expects everyone to be as pious, righteous, and holier-than-thou as she is—or else.

Elsewhere, schoolteacher Emma Tate (Isabelle McCalla) is a dead ringer for Marian the librarian from The Music Man. Meanwhile, Danny Bailey (Max Clayton) is a charismatic yet destructive carnival barker modeled after Billy Bigelow in Carousel. Betsy (McKenzie Kurtz) is an innocent, guy-crazy farm girl who blends traits of Ado Annie from Oklahoma! with one of Farmer McDonough’s seven daughters in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Finally, Mayor Menlove (Brad Oscar) and his doting wife Florence (Ann Harada) appear to be the perfect couple. In reality, theirs is a “lavender” marriage.

Direction, design & score

Director and choreographer Christopher Gattelli keeps the action moving briskly, staging the musical numbers with energy and precision. Meanwhile, visually, the production embraces a vibrant, color-saturated aesthetic, with sets and costumes that gently poke fun at the originals. This reviewer hasn’t seen all the musicals Schmigadoon makes fun of, and I don’t think others need to either. The musical is funny enough on its own even for those who haven’t seen many of the golden oldies.

The score is where Schmigadoon! really shines. The full-company opening number, “Schmigadoon,” cleverly goofs on Oklahoma! and immediately sets the tone. “Corn Puddin’,” a hilarious send-up of Carousel’s clambake, is a comic highlight, while “With All of Your Heart” affectionately winks at “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music. In Act Two, Ana Gasteyer ignites the crowd with “Tribulation,” a showstopping number in which she revels in the town’s moral decay with sanctimonious glee while showcasing her powerhouse vocals. At times, the humor’s broad, but the show’s craft and sheer enthusiasm keep it consistently entertaining.

As in any parody, not every joke lands. Some of the humor plays it too safe and may click most with audiences familiar with the classic musicals being mocked. Still, the show delivers plenty of universal comic gems, including an “interfaith” bake sale featuring goods from Presbyterians and Methodists. Sight gags like this artfully highlight just how homogenized and delightfully “white bread” the town really is.

The players

Alex Brightman embraces Josh’s cynicism with sharp comic timing, grounding the show’s more absurd elements. Sara Chase provides a warm and appealing counterbalance, giving Melissa emotional clarity even as the world around her spirals into musical fantasy.

Ana Gasteyer, however, is the standout. As the show’s deliciously wicked villain, she delivers a campy, over-the-top performance that may remind some of Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians. She’s outrageously cruel and hilariously self-righteous, fully embracing the role’s heightened style. Her Act Two showstopper “Tribulation” elicits thunderous applause, blending trenchant satire with powerhouse vocals. It’s the kind of unforgettable performance that should put her firmly in the conversation this awards season.

The supporting cast is uniformly strong, fully committing to the show’s stylized world and musical pastiche.

Ultimately, Schmigadoon! delivers big laughs and sharp, skewering humor, emerging as a high-octane standout of the season’s new musicals.

Published April 25, 2026
Reviewed at press performance on April 22, 2026.

‘SCHMIGADOON!’ Sara Chase, McKenzie Kurtz, Brad Oscar, Alex Brightman & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘SCHMIGADOON!’: The cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘SCHMIGADOON!’: Isabelle McCalla & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘SCHMIGADOON!’: Sara Chase & Ann Harada. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘SCHMIGADOON!’: Sara Chase & Max Clayton. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘SCHMIGADOON!’: Brad Oscar & Maullik Pancholy. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘SCHMIGADOON!’: Alex Brightman & McKenzie Kurtz. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘SCHMIGADOON!’: Alex Brightman & Ayaan Diop. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

The post ‘Schmigadoon!’: Feel-good show of the year appeared first on StageZine.

‘DEATH BECOMES HER’: Megan Hilty & Jennifer Simard. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

DEATH BECOMES HER
Based on the Universal Pictures film, directed by Robert Zemeckis
Book by Marco Pennette
Music & lyrics by Julia Mattison & Noel Carey
Directed & choreographed by Christopher Gattelli
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
205 West 46^th Street
https://deathbecomesher.com/

By Scott Harrah

The 1992 film Death Becomes Her, starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn, was a phenomenal hit comedy, with iconic performances by the two actresses and state-of-the-art special effects. Broadway stage adaptations are always tricky and a gamble. Fortunately, this musical captures all the outrageous fun and special effects that made the movie so memorable. What’s more, at times the Broadway version surpasses the movie’s high-energy level of self-parody, and that’s a plus for anyone who loves exaggerated entertainment for laughter’s sake.

Like the famous film on which it is based, the musical Death Becomes Her revels in all the catty fun one can think of when two women who are best friends and celebrities take rivalry to outrageous lengths. It has all the ingredients for bona fide camp: Bitchy one-liners, the quest for eternal youth, and women fighting over men. Not exactly feminist fare, for sure, but the 1992 movie never tried to be that either. More like Clare Booth Luce’s The Women fused with a horror movie with a subtext about the dangers of extreme plastic surgery gone horribly wrong.

The plot

For those who have never seen the movie, here’s a brief synopsis. Madeline Ashton (Megan Hilty) is an aging Hollywood star who will do anything to restore her once-youthful beauty. Her friend and rival Helen Sharp (Jennifer Simard) is a struggling writer married to plastic surgeon Ernest Menville (Christopher Sieber). Desperate to rejuvenate her looks, Madeline visits the enigmatic Viola Van Horn (Michelle Williams), a woman who sells her a magic potion that will restore beauty and make one forever young. One catch: The potion makes people live forever, and beauty and immortality both have many sobering consequences and side effects.

Madeline and Helen have been “frenemies” for years, with Madeline obsessed with her vanity and Helen thirsty for revenge. When Madeline steals Ernest from Helen, all-out war ensues.

True to the film

The musical adaptation of Death Becomes Her is mostly true to the 1992 film, despite a few minor changes in the script and some character’s names that will only be noticed by those who have seen the movie dozens of times (this reviewer, for example).  Marco Pennette’s book is consistently crisp and full of quick-witted repartee. Thanks to “illusions” by Tim Clothier, a gorgeous set by Derek McLane, fantastic lighting by Justin Townsend, ultra-glamorous costumes by Paul Tazewell and hair and wigs by Charles LaPointe, Broadway’s Death Becomes Her is a nonstop glitz-fest. For years, critics have been complaining that Broadway musicals are too threadbare, utilitarian and not extravagant enough anymore, but this one pulls out all the proverbial stops.

The score

Julia Mattison and Noel Clary’s songs are all whimsical and witty. However, although few are particularly memorable, they certainly are never dull. One of the standouts is “For the Gaze,” Madeline’s gleefully silly production number in act one. The “Gaze” she sings about are actually “gays” and she impersonates everyone from Liza Minnelli to Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria while scantily clad chorus boys dance around her.

Sublime cast

The sublime cast truly makes Death Become Her shine. It is a treat to see the two female leads back on Broadway. Megan Hilty is a true comic delight as Madeline Ashton. With her seamless delivery of snarky wisecracks and her soaring vocals, Ms. Hilty is the perfect Madeline. Equally outstanding is Jennifer Simard, who makes the perfect transition from mousy frump Helen to a buxom sexpot. Ms. Simard has been slowly gathering momentum on Broadway over the years, and her portrayal of Helen Sharp is her best performance ever. Christopher Sieber is also amazing as Ernest Melville, the plastic surgeon who must endure “Mad” and “Hel” for too long.

Supporting cast members are equally extraordinary. Michelle Williams sheds her Destiny’s Child image and portrays the mystical Viola Van Horn with the right mix of mystique and the macabre. Of course, her vocals on such songs as “Don’t Say I Didn’t (Warn You)” are first rate. Josh Lamon gives a fun performance as Stefan, Madeline’s overworked assistant. Taurean Everett is wonderfully menacing as Chagall, Viola’s assistant.

Director and choreographer Christopher Gattelli directs everything fluidly and smoothly, helping make Death Becomes Her one of the year’s best musicals. It’s hilarious from the moment the curtain rises and the madcap insanity never lets up.

Published November 25, 2024
Reviewed at press performance on November 23, 2024

‘DEATH BECOMES HER’: Michelle Williams (center) & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘DEATH BECOMES HER’: Christopher Sieber. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘DEATH BECOMES HER’: Jennifer Simard & Christopher Sieber. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘DEATH BECOMES HER’: Megan Hilty (center) & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘DEATH BECOMES HER’: Jennifer Simard & Christopher Sieber. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘DEATH BECOMES HER’: Taurean Everett (center) & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘DEATH BECOMES HER’: Jennifer Simard (center), Megan Hilty, Christopher Sieber & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘DEATH BECOMES HER’: (left to right) Megan Hilty, Jennifer Simard, Josh Lamon & Christopher Sieber. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

The post ‘Death Becomes Her’ is killer hit of the year appeared first on StageZine.

‘WATER FOR ELEPHANTS’: The cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS
Based on the Novel by Sara Gruen
Book by Rick Elise
Score by PigPenTheatre Co.
Choreography by Jesse Robb & Shana Carroll
Directed by Jessica Stone
Imperial Theatre
249 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.waterforelephants.com

By David NouNou

Whatever happened to the adage “less is more”? There is so much and nothing going on here that the head literally reels. Water For Elephants starts out in a reasonable fashion and within minutes, it becomes an overwrought runaway train.

The fairgrounds have closed, the circus has been dismantled, and there is the elder Jacob Jankowski, the ever genial (Gregg Edelman) admiring and enjoying the pleasures the circus has provided him over the years. He is greeted by the current mangers, June (Isabelle McCalla) and Charlie (Paul Alexander Nolan) and wonder what he is doing there, only to be told he escaped from the old age home and came to enjoy the circus, and starts retelling them what he did as far back as 1931 when he started working for a circus. We now meet Young Jacob (Grant Gustin). His parents died in a car crash. He was young with nowhere to go, and accidentally jumped on board a circus train and hoping to get at least one day’s work at Benzini Brothers Circus.

Young Jacob is met with a lot of hostility and animosity from “kinkers and rousts,” the names of circus performers. He is hired by August (Paul Alexander Nolan) to do odd jobs from cleaning stalls to pitching tents. Jacob can do and does everything. Next enters Marlena (Isabelle McCalla), the star attraction with a beautiful white horse. The horse has been overworked and a spur is jutting from his foot; ultimately, he must be put down. Jacob—who was studying to be a veterinarian at Cornell but never graduated—euthanizes the horse and that brings an end to the specialty attraction of the circus.

Jacob has now been assigned to get a new act for the circus—and it is in the form of a giant elephant who speaks only one language. Wait for it. It is Marlena and Jacob who have to get the elephant act up and running in order for the circus to continue. Oh, did I mention that Marlena is married to the abusive August when this new trio forms?

That is basically the story condensed and is, hopefully, comprehensible. Also, a further clarification is needed that the story jumps to past and present, so stay alert and keep up.

A circus is basically a fun place to go to and be amazed by all the illusions taking place. What we have here is all the daily grind routines and pressures a circus endures with none of the pleasures involved. The book by Rick Elise is so top-heavy with every turgid cliché imaginable. It keeps hammering at you repeatedly if you missed it the first couple of times. The nice guy, the sinister malevolent circus owner, his gentle and sweet wife, all the fun and mean circus folk, on and on and on.

Next is the score by Pigpen Theatre Co. It has a depression-era bluesy 1930s sound and for every dirge inserted, an upbeat song follows, then another dirge, another rousing number and so on and so on. When all else fails, brings on the “kinkers and rousts” to do all the tumbling, scaling each other, with the acrobats throwing themselves across the stage, over each other and under each other. These routine antics, thanks to choreographers Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll, are akin to an alarm, keeping things moving to keep the audience awake. At this point, we haven’t even hit intermission yet.

Last year, director Jessica Stone delivered the beautiful musical Kimberly Akimbo with laser-focused direction. There is so much extemporaneous stuff  going on just before intermission, including a dreadful stabbing act that completely boggles the mind on why it even exists.  Her direction here is so loose and all over the place that at least half an hour could have been trimmed from the show and you would not have missed a thing. Why? Everything is repeated multiple times. Finally, the curtain comes down at almost two hours and 45 minutes.

Two things that do stand out are the ever-charming Greg Edelman, who makes the evening somewhat bearable; and making his Broadway debut is Grant Gustin. Mr. Gustin has boundless energy and is put through the wringer but comes out shining.

Not to worry, though, as this is one of the shows that out-of-towners can fully appreciate.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 29, 2024
Reviewed at March 28, 2024 press performance

‘WATER FOR ELEPHANTS’: The cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘WATER FOR ELEPHANTS”: Marissa Rosen, Sara Gettelfinger, Taylor Colleton & Grant Gustin. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘WATER FOR ELEPHANTS’: Marissa Rosen, Gregg Edelman, Taylor Colleton, Sara Gettelfinger, Joe De Paul & Stan Brown. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

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