My fourth show of the day was Mad Lib the Musical and it was a rousing good time. I wish that I had the time to see the entire show, as I had to slip out to go to Aliens vs. Musical, but what I saw was absolutely brilliant and amazing.
I liken the show to a musical version of Whose Line is it Anyway? on steroids. The concept is that the audience picks ten songs and three nouns to form the basis for the musical. The cast then has five minutes to formulate the show based on those nouns and incorporating the songs.
The show features four regular cast members, Kate Bowman, Lauren Byrd, Nathan Ondracek and Mitchell Turner, plus two guest stars. On this night those guest stars were Alli Miller from Whole Newd World and Angel’s Flight and Theresa Stroll from My Big Fat Blonde Musical.
I only got to see three songs, but the improv “script” was witty and fun. The only drawback was the time it spent in setting up the show. Had I not had another show coming up, it would have been a great way to close out another fun day of Fringe. Catch one of its final two performances on June 24 or 25 at 10:30 p.m.
My final show for the night was one of last year’s hit shows, Alien vs. Musical. From what I understand, this year’s show was longer than last year’s, and included additional material, including bits from West Side Story and Hamilton.
The show started off innocently enough in the land of Musical, where some of our favorite characters live in peace, including those from Grease, Wicked, Dreamgirls, Music Man, Hairspray, Book of Mormon, Les Miserables, and Annie, to name a few. Speaking of Annie, Allie Costa turns in the performance of the decade in her role as Annie. She gives the character true life and her song “There is no Tomorrow” is the highlight of the show.
The cast includes Levanna Atkinson-Williams as Effie, Christopher Bunyi as Danny, Nick Emmet McGee as Harold, Taylor Minckley as Elder, Ally Mulholland as Tracy, Matthew Noah as ValJean, Suzanne Petrela as Elphaba, Brad Simanski as Mark and Briane Sanborn as Maria.
Hats off to the creative team behind the show. With book, music and lyrics by Erik Przytulski, book and creature design by Steve Troop and choreography by Regina Laughlin, and direction by Matthew Tyler and musical direction by Emily Cohn (who provides an interesting cameo with the Alien), the show appears to be on its way to its off-Broadway debut this fall. It remains a fan favorite at Fringe and we’re sure it will do well in New York.
Catch one of its two remaining shows on June 23 at 8:30 p.m. or June 26 at 6 p.m.
I have saved my final review of the day until later. Still waiting for additional information from the producer, but the show was one of the highlights of Fringe 2016. I probably won’t get to work on it until I get back to Montana, along with my reviews of my Saturday (seven shows) and Sunday (two shows) experiences. Until then, Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads and have a wonderful day Fringing.