Displaying items by tag: Parady

Nothing beats celebrating New Year’s Eve like being a on ship that capsizes just after the countdown. The 1972 film that features Gene Hackman, Shelly Winters, Red Buttons, and Ernest Borgnine is just that. When a cruise ship capsizes, surviving passengers are forced to travel upwards from floor to floor with the goal of reaching the ship’s bottom where they believe rescuers will be waiting or an escape through the propeller room might be had. The film, a classic disaster flick with several over the top performances, begs to become a victim of parody – and Hell in a Handbag is just the team to make this happen.

Originally staged by Hell in a Handbag in 2002, ‘Poseidon! An Upsidedown Musical’ was a tremendous hit and went on to run for a five-month sold out engagement. Accepted into The New York International Fringe Festival, no other show beat its attendance. When the show was remounted in 2009 at Chopin Theatre, it ran to great success once again and saw yet another extended run. The 2009 production of ‘Poseidon!’ was my very first Handbag experience and I’ve never looked back, enjoying nearly all the ensemble’s shows since. I was immediately hooked on Handbag’s knack for producing pinpoint camp and became a fan of the likes of David Cerda, Ed Jones, Elizabeth Lesinski and company from day one. 

So, great news Chicago! ‘Poseidon!’ is back, this time at the Edge Theatre in Edgewater. The show might be without Cerda and Jones in starring roles but puts forth an incredible funny cast with David Lipshutz leading the motley crew of survivors as Reverend Scott (played by Hackman in the film). Lipshutz is a comedic force, his deadpan delivery and exaggerated dramatic lines spot on. 

The cast is simply littered with talented actors who know how to draw laughs and ‘Poseidon!’ gives each ample opportunity to shine. Lesinski returns to Handbag and is hilarious as Linda, the impatient, self-centered wife of Rogo, a retired detective who often butts heads with the reverend and is played by Handbag newcomer Shane Roberie. Stevie Love takes on the role of Nonnie, the ditzy singer of the ship’s house band and is hysterically funny with just about every line delivered. The cast is tremendous and includes both Handbag veterans and new arrivals – Tommy Bullington takes on Belle (played by Shelly Winters in the film) and knocks it out of the park. Nicky Mendelsohn is sidesplittingly funny as ship employee, Acres (played by Roddy McDowell in the film) while cast members Katherine Bellantone, Michael S. Miller, Frankie Leo Bennet (C’mon sis! It’s a cinch!”), Scott Sawa and others strengthen an already strong cast.   

        
As an audience we are part of a group that watches The Poseidon Adventure regularly. The watching party is hosted by Caitlin Jackson who, along with her guests, comment on moments of the “film” and praises its heroes. Prior to the curtain being raised, Jackson and friends stroll around the theatre, drinks in hand, as they prepare to take their front row seats to watch the epic classic of a lifetime. 

The musical is filled with songs that are as catchy as they are funny like “Just Panties” and “(In the Water) I’m A Very Skinny Lady”. A live band is hidden away in the set that creatively flips upside down once the rogue wave strikes the helpless ship. 
Is it helpful to see the 1972 disaster film before the musical? For sure. Can you enjoy this musical if you’ve never even heard of the film? For sure.

Superbly directed by Derek Van Barham with book and lyrics by David Cerda of whom the latter also is credited for the music along with Scott Lamberty, “Poseidon! An Upside Musical’ is a super blast into comedic heaven. 
Catch the ship-capsizing wave of hilarity! Wholeheartedly recommended as one of the funniest productions you can possibly see.

‘Poseidon!’ is being performed at The Edge Theatre through April 28th. For tickets and/or more show information visit www.handbagproductions.org.

Helldrivers of Daytona, currently running at the Royal George Theatre, is a fun idea. It is a musical that seems to mostly spoof Elvis’ Viva Las Vegas, a story of a talented race car driver who needs to scrape up enough cash to get his car into the big race. James Nedrud does his best in the lead as Lucky Stubbs, lampooning the Elvis-like role, but often ends up shouting his best songs. Nonetheless, he does succeed nicely as a caricature of the sexy, country boy trying to make good we know from the film, coming off as a fey, one level dummy adding a lot of humor to the role. Nedrud’s expressions alone often draws laughs along with his overdone Southern accent and quirky denseness.  

The parodied scenes from Viva Las Vegas are many, from the girlfriend, Pepper, singing a song about how jealous she is of Lucky’s race car, the active competition with a French racing rival and even Lucky’s stint working as a hotel waiter where he walks in on Pepper and his challenger. Again, the idea was there. Problem is, despite some good acting and singing performances throughout the cast, the production goes a bit overboard with its silliness and many jokes simply fall flat. 

The music, composed by The Knack’s Berton Averre, captures the 1965 period nicely, some songs stuffed with clever punchlines, however, outside of a couple catchy melodies, most numbers will probably have a hard time sticking, as they fall a bit on the repetitive side.        

Samantha Pauly stands out from the entire cast and is a superb comedienne in the role of Pepper Johnson, Lucky’s sex kittenish, Anne Margaret type love interest. Her introductory song, "Peppers' Crazy Feeling" is hysterical as Pepper has one orgasm after another just by driving her pink colored bumpy, throbbing stick shift - an adorable convertible aptly named "Pinky”, getting huge laughs with each big "O", some of the only genuine laughs in the show. As the bi-sexual, millionaire race car driver and Count, David Sajewich is also funny even when he later channels a twelve-year-old French murderess to kill Lucky in the race (I told you it goes overboard). 

There are three essential speedway groupies and a tomboyish tag-along (Rachel Melius, Leah Morrow, Claire Lilley, and Julia Rose Duray). All had great voices and are played with real energy, sex appeal and great comic timing.

The beach bums who become Lucky's race car pit crew (Trey Curtis, Aaron M. Davidson, and Chris Selefski) have some funny moments and are good singers. Danny Herman and Rocker Verastique's choreography is often very sexy and funny at the same time, especially the dance numbers of seduction between Lucky and Pepper and Pepper's competing courtship dance with the Count. 

I adored Brenda Winstead's costumes particularly for all the women characters. The girl's outfits were colorful, perfectly cut for the time period and eye-poppingly sexy without actually revealing anything.

"Teenage Dreams" sung by the three groupies is the most memorable and interesting song to me. Their three fantasies in the number include, a Daddy's girl whose fixation on her handsome father still gets in the way of her love life, one was into being a dominatrix and having her man be her obedient puppy dog, and the third, raised Catholic, insists on finding a man who looks and acts like Jesus, her hero and savior.  I thought this song’s lyrics were very cleverly written and delivered by the girls and really captured the repressed fantasies and dating blocks that many women of all ages possibly struggle with today. Happily, for this trio, each one eventually finds her perfect mate in the trio of pit crew boys who help Lucky win the race. 

At a running time of 2 hours 25 minutes there are definitely still some cuts to be made but I had a lot of fun watching the show, and think a younger crowd at a theater with a more progressive reputation would as well. It might also be a good idea to take in Viva Las Vegas beforehand to really get the show’s camp.

Despite the show having a few more misses than hits, Helldrivers of Daytona still has enough laughs and doses of nostalgia that most will probably enjoy it overall. Its originality also counts for something, especially in its big finale racing scene.  

In its World Premiere, the pre-Broadway tryout, Helldrivers of Daytona, is being performed at Royal George Theatre through October 30th. To find out more about the show go to www.theroylageorgetheatre.com. 

*UPDATE – Due to negative reviews, the show has been cancelled for the remainder of its run. A statement was made from the show’s producers, “We all believed in Helldrivers of Daytona and more importantly believe in creating new works for the American Musical stage. We are disappointed by the critical response, but we knew that it was a risky endeavor. Still, many of the people who saw it were thoroughly entertained and delighted by the work of our fantastic cast and musicians. We have decided to close the production and we will evaluate how we might make changes for future productions of the musical. We want to thank our talented team of designers, our director and co-choreographer, our music director, our cast and crew, and of course our creative team who have all worked so diligently to get Helldrivers to the starting (and alas, finishing) line.”

That is unfortunate. Hopefully, we will see a tweaked production in the future.