The Musical of Musicals, a Sendup of Musicals, Extends to Jan. 25

By Kenneth Jones
05 Jan 2004

The Musical of Musicals - The Musical! has become one of the best-reviewed shows by York Theatre Company in recent seasons, and will extend to Jan. 25 at the troupe's home at the Theatre at St. Peter's in the Citigroup Center in Manhattan.

The show by (and featuring) composer Eric Rockwell and lyricist Joanne Bogart (who share book credit) is "a comic satire of musical theatre genres" in which "one story becomes five musicals, each in the distinctive style of a different master of the form," from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim to Kander and Ebb to Jerry Herman to Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The cast of The Musical of Musicals - The Musical! includes Craig Fols and Lovette George. Pamela Hunt directs.

In a nutshell, "June, an ingénue who can't pay the rent, is threatened by her evil landlord. Will the handsome leading man come to her rescue? In an evening of variations on a theme, this basic plot is musicalized the way Rodgers and Hammerstein might have envisioned it, taking place in Kansas in August, complete with a Dream Ballet. The story is then done in the style of Stephen Sondheim, featuring the landlord as a tortured, artistic genius who slashes the throats of his tenants in revenge because they don't appreciate his art. When presented in the style of Jerry Herman, the story becomes a splashy star vehicle, while the Andrew Lloyd Webber version is a rock musical, with borrowed themes from Puccini. The story is re-told one last time in the style of Kander and Ebb, set in a speakeasy in Chicago."

Tickets are $50. For information, call (212) 868-4444 or visit the Theatre at St. Peter's box office at 619 Lexington Avenue (at 54th Street).