A WHOLE NEW SONG // A THEATRE REVIEW OF "HAPPY FUN KARAOKE TIME"
One of the best things about living in New York City is the amount of great musical theatre that's here. From new musicals on Broadway to innovative works downtown, NYC is the place to experience brand new and classic works. Though a new Off-Broadway show is giving those more established plays a run for their money, because HAPPY KARAOKE FUN TIME mixes Improv with Musical Theatre, proving you don't need years to write a show. You can do it within an hour! The premise: The audience shouts out the name of their would be “One night only musical” and they perform it for you, completely improvised, to the tunes of songs you know. My one night only show? “Sausage Squeeze, The Musical.” Though the plot changes every night, here’s my recap of my particular evening.
The story began as two couples enter the stage: a mother and daughter and a father and son. They both are buying clothes at different places (the daughter is excited to fit her mother into a Justin Bieber shirt, while the father & son is at Express). The tune of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” becomes “Don’t Stop Believing in Yourself” as the kids try to encourage their parents to listen to the title of their song and believe in themselves. We then move onto a TGI Fridays Speed Dating event, where only two people have shown up, the father and the mother. After their 60 second date is a success, they both get review cards and sing “I’m Checking Yes” to the tune of Aladdin’s “A Whole New World.” Eventually, now believing in himself, the Father begins to date two women and shenanigans ensue. Being that this is Improv comedy, it’s not really about the plot, it’s how well the team of Improv performers weave in and out of situations with comedic flair. Which I’m happy to report they do quite well here.
Nikita Burdein was quite funny as the Father, happily accepting everything that was thrown to him, no matter how weird it got. As the women in his sight, Kathleen Armenti and Kiki Mikkelsen both sing beautifully and have several very funny moments (a double date with The Father and a Homeless man pretending to be The Father is delightfully absurd). What is especially great is how well the ensemble work together to create dozens of small, super weird characters to keep the audience engaged and laughing. Creator Phillip Markle is a standout. He’s hilarious as a Homeless Man in the park goes from a Bizarrely happy “Stewart of Central Park” who hands out Flowers (they’re actually tails of Rats) to somehow doubling as The Father for a date and then trying to row away in a very slow moving boat. Also strong were characters by Jen Connor (her annoyed and happy waitress at TGI Fridays actually seemed like a waitress you might have had in the past) and Doug Widick and Maya Deshmukh were two of a group of hilarious Football players who acted like dumb jocks but really wanted to show they treat people well until they accidentally poison a dumb high school girl and try to bury her. I mean, how many times has that happened to all of us, am I right?!
Throughout the evening, you recognize song after song (Ace of Base’s “The Sign” becomes The Football Team’s anthem “It Only Gets Better For Us” and Adele’s “We Could Have Had it All” morphs into “I’m Gonna Date ‘Em Both”) and the improvised lyrics are clever, strange, and ridiculous. Which also sums up the evening. Happy Fun Karaoke Time only runs for two more Thursday performances Off Broadway and I do highly recommend checking them out (they play at The Davenport Theatre, the old home of the just now shuttered Pageant The Musical). It’ll put the “delightfully bizarre” back into your pre-weekend theatre experience.
MATEO’S GRADE: B+
Starring: Philip Markle, Douglas Widick, Kathleen Armenti, Christopher Simpson, Ali Reed, Nikita Burdein, Jennifer Connor, Ross Taylor, Kiki Mikkelson, Maya Deshmukh, Nat Trammell, Philip Markle, Douglas Widick, Kathleen Armenti, Christopher Simpson, Ali Reed, Nikita Burdein, Jennifer Connor, Ross Taylor, Kiki Mikkelson, Maya Deshmukh, Nat Trammell. Content Advisory: Popular songs from the Pop and Broadway world are attacked. Purist descretion advised. Playing at: The Davenport Theatre (354 W. 45th Street, NYC through Nov. 6th For Tickets: www.happykaraokefuntime.com
FINAL THOUGHTS: I will leave you with a Bon Bon of knowledge from Sasuage Squeeze: The Musical: "I thought I could be a player, but it ended up being just like a Three's Company episode. And I'm sorry for that, because that's an old show." And "Lies are like clothes. And the ones that don't fit you have to wear for the rest of your lives." I hope you take those two quotes with you each time you read this review, which I'm sure with be dozens of more times. You're welcome.
MATEO MORENO is an actor, playwright, and director in New York City. He owns and runs TheArtsWireWeekly.com and has had four of his plays produced, including BOHEMIAN VALENTINE, HAPPILY AFTER TONIGHT, WITHIN OUR WALLS, & LOVES ME LIKE A ROCK.